SMELLING WOOD SMOKE ON THE COLD, COLD AIR...FEEDING FISH IN THE POND

SMELLING WOOD SMOKE ON THE COLD, COLD AIR... FEEDING FISH IN THE POND

BY GLORIA FAYE BROWN BATES



This evening Skip and I walked outside in the cold, cold air.  We could smell the wood smoke coming from a chimney at a small nearby house.  It smelled so cosy and nice.  It made me think back to when we stayed in Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a while.


One night we were walking from our hotel in the town of Gatlinburg, enjoying the crisp, cold air.  We could smell charcoal and the aroma of steak cooking!  It was a wonderful smell, guess what we did?  We began to follow our nose looking for the restaurant that had steak cooking!


We walked up and down the hilly sidewalk until we finally came to a small restaurant where the aroma of steak cooking... came from!  We went inside ... it was so nice, and warm inside.  The scents inside smelled delicious!  We sat down at a round table with a red and white checkered tablecloth... there was a candle burning inside a pretty blue jar.  How cosy this wonderful restaurant was!  We could see outside the big window as we waited for our steaks to come..  how I loved looking at the colors of the neon lights.  Colors soothe my soul, colors make my eyes happy!


I will tell you this... those steaks were absolutely wonderful!  They warmed us up on the inside, we were ready to go back into the cold again to walk, and enjoy the night lights, listen and feel the hustle and bustle of other people who were also, enjoying the crisp night air, and shopping in the quaint little shops that were open.  How happy this was!  This is the memory brought to my mind this evening as we walked and smelled that beautiful wood smoke.  A wonderful memory.


We also, walked to the fish pond below our house.  We took several bags of bread to feed them.  As we got to the water's edge, the little fish were waiting for us.  It's strange... they are used to being fed and when you walk to the edge... there they are!  Little catfish, big catfish come to the surface of the water when the bread is thrown to them.  I made my bread last longer by breaking it off in small pieces.  I watched and listened to the catfish making the water splash... and they made a kissing sound when they stuck their little mouths out of the water to eat the bread!  They made me think of our sweet Kissy when he eats!  It was just... precious!


We enjoyed very much this winter evening.  I wanted to share it with you.  I hope yours was as nice!
                                                                                :)))