The Smell of Palm Trees

Most of the palm trees in Tallahassee are probably planted here, and do not grow naturally. It seems that oaks covered in Spanish moss are the predominant native trees. This area of Florida is more like a rain forest or swamp as opposed to the open coastal areas where one expects to see palm trees. Still, the palm trees grow well here, and in August they produce clusters of orange fruit that eventually fall to the ground, one by one. The fruit is slightly smaller than a golf ball. At the center is a hard, brown seed about the size of a dime.

One of my first experiences in August 2008 as a new law school student was the scent of the palm tree fruit. When it first hit me, I was discovering what would become a usual stress relieving routine- jogging the two mile loop around Alumni Village apartments. Orange palm tree fruit has a dark, sweet smell. On my run around Alumni Village, I first thought that the smell was coming from a line of shrubbery. It was only a few days later when I picked up one of the fallen balls of fruit that I recognized it as the source.

This August, as what will hopefully be my last year of law school gets underway, the smell of the palm tree fruit is hitting me again when I go for my runs. I have come to identify that scent with late summer Tallahassee, Florida State University, and the beginning of the fall semester. It is a pleasant smell associated with pleasant memories.

Until Next Time,

Nathan Marshburn