That's Some Good Sniffin'!

Barley, a dog, scans the surface of a residential leafscape, collating olfactory data about the neighborhood’s goings-on.

Since October, each neighborhood I explore with Barley presents its own flavor of a stark contrast: The leaf-botherers and the laissez-leafers. Some folks are truly fine with their yards remaining covered by a thin crust of leaves, a delightful crème brûlée of smells for Barley to enjoy, while others insist on keeping their lawns uncovered like a fragile, quivering flan. It’s clear which Barley prefers from which yards she insists on investigating: The leaves offer, by far, the superior sniff experience.