My first fall in Tokyo, I’d open the windows to let in the post-typhoon glow, and the cats would close their eyes and tilt their noses upward to take in little tufts of scent.
Basil loved rolling around on the concrete balcony, but Zophia, who had bad vision and seemed to have the cat equivalent of ADHD, couldn’t be trusted out there. Stopping Basil from destroying the screen while keeping Zophia inside turned into a game, but that problem dissipated once the smell of shampoo started rolling in every day.
At first, I thought there was a massive shampoo spill; then I wondered if we were near a shampoo factory. Worried that the excess fragrance could make us sick, I closed the windows. Later I found out it was the kinmokusei, an osmanthus that blooms every fall in Tokyo. I miss it, now.