The Smells of the Holidays

I don't know about the rest of the world, but I love the smells of Thanksgiving 1 and Christmas more than any other holiday. . . Now that I think about it not too many other holidays really have a smell associated with them.
  Halloween I suppose has the smell of candy corn (my mom loves candy corn) or the scent of rotting leaves (cause of the time of year) or maybe the smell of a candy bar still in its wrapper. The 4th of July is kind of connected to the smell of fireworks to me, but sulfur is not on any of my top ten lists of "smells I like". Memorial Day is supposed to be the "Start of the Summer" so possibly hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. --Although I think nowadays so many people associate the smell of propane with the smell of cooking food. Not enough people use the good old fashioned charcoal. Now there is a smell I can get behind. Those gas-breathers probably wont admit it, but they know in their hearts that the smoky scent of a charcoal or wood fire is the appropriate accompaniment to all food.--  Now that I've had my soapbox moment back to holiday scents.  Does Groundhog Day have a scent to anyone who doesn't live in Punxsutawney? Valentine's Day has the scent of flowers and cardboard and chocolates. New Years Eve has probably the widest assortment of smells associated with it. Which end of the spectrum you get really depends on what you do with New Years, but I think you know where I'm going. Even with all of that mental space that is taken up with memories of the other holidays my favorite are still Thanksgiving and Christmas.
  The scent of warm pumpkin pie that is coming right out of the oven or the early morning smell of a freshly roasted turkey (I like the smell a lot more than the taste at this point in my life) are smells that can almost instantly make me smile. It's like hearing that one song on the radio that reminds you of that lost love or old friend, but in food form. The morning of Thanksgiving 2.4 I will cheat a little by lighting candles in all of the major rooms, just to get a head start on the scents. I prefer food related candles: fudge, chocolate, pumpkin, or sugar cookie. I don't know if anyone has done any research on this, but I'm willing to bet that if all workplaces smelled like Hershey's Chocolate World there would be less violence at work. Well, our house will smell great and I'm hoping that from the first moment guests walk in the door they will be bombarded by happy smells and it puts them in a good frame of mind for the rest of the day.