A few years back, my family and I spent a couple of weeks in Iowa and Minnesota. After suffering in the humidity long enough, it was time to head back to the Black Hills. We drove out of Minnesota, passed through Sioux Falls and Mitchell, and had our lunch in Chamberlain, then commenced the long trek between Chamberlain and Rapid City. The others slept as I drove.

About 12 or 15 miles from Rapid City, I rolled down the window and exclaimed, "There it is! Do you smell it? That is the smell of home, the pine-scented smell of the Black Hills of South Dakota." The other passengers in the car awakened and joined me in the celebration of one of the nicest scents in creation. Yes, the Black Hills is one of my favorite scents of all.

Oh, I have other favorite scents. How about the smell of a freshly plowed field? There is something about the smell of a quantity of black dirt that can't be beat. And the smell of freshly cut grass is sometimes so pleasant that it is difficult to remember that grass-cutting is supposed to be work.

Yes, I like to smell flowers, even the flowers whose names I don't know. But there is one flower that I do know, and it smells better than any of the rest. Let me mention it, and I will get lots of agreement. Of course, it is lilacs. We know that spring has finally come when we get our first scent of lilacs.

There are not many animals that smell good. Cows, pigs and sheep just don't do it. And can you think of anything that smells more unpleasant than a wet dog? But there is one animal that smells good, whether he or she is wet or not. Of course, I am referring to a horse. There is something about the scent of a horse that makes you want to just keep on smelling.

All of the smells I have mentioned so far are outside smells. Let's move inside. I can still close my eyes and conjure up the smell of my mother's kitchen. There she is standing by the stove cooking the day's supper. There is a roast she has just taken from the stove, and there is the scent of meat, onions, carrots and potatoes. Over on the counter, there are a couple of pies, probably an apple and a cherry. All the smells let us know it is time to eat.

One of the smells that makes me ready to eat now is the smell of my wife's cornbread as she takes it from the oven.

In researching this essay, I asked my wife about her favorite smells. She answered, "Babies." (My wife is crazy about babies.) I needed to remind her that babies really don't smell that good. It is the powder and the lotion that we put on babies that make them smell nice. (We argued about this to no real conclusion.)

My senses of sight and hearing have both diminished greatly as I have aged, but, fortunately, my sense of smell is still pretty good. Just try me out with a lilac or a slice of cornbread.

Here I have written about smells and I haven't mentioned smells that are repugnant. How about the smell of, no, let's leave that until next time.

Walter Higbee is a retired college educator living in Spearfish. Write him at the Rapid City Journal, Box 450, Rapid City, SD 57709.