Sense of smell

Smells have a very important place in my life. Of all my senses, the smell seems to be the one that takes me away from reality and, sometimes, leads me to distant places. And times.

Funny enough, I can remember smells better than faces, names, dates and places. The smell comes first. It may bring a time and a location that I had long forgotten. It may bring a face whose name I cannot recall. It can make me extremely happy, or extremely emotional, sad.

Sounds are also important, but nothing close to smells. Certain songs will undoubtedly make me cry. Definitely.

But smells will cause peculiar reactions inside me. I can bring the memory of a smell to my nostrils at any time I want, but the varied memories that it will bring to me are the ones I cannot control. I just relax and enjoy them, or, sometimes, shake them off of me.

I remember the smell of my mom's hair. The smell of her hands. Once, a long, long time ago, I kissed her hand and told her that it smelled of kitchen, garlic, soap and hand lotion. She did not like it. She said she had washed them and used the lotion, therefore they should not be "stinking". And I remember telling her that they never stunk to me.

I remember the smell of my father's shirt, as he arrived from work and I hugged him. A mix of his cologne, cigarettes, and the iron dust from the mill where he worked. And of him.

I remember the smell of my brother's pillow. I hated it. Just because it was his. I had to hate it. One is not supposed to like a brother's pillow smell. Yuk!  Poor thing. I was mean.

When the first rain of summer falls, and wets the dirt, the dust and the vegetation, it has a particular smell. I love it! Very young puppy dogs that have not yet weened have a smelly breath that I always loved.

I can smell if there are roaches in a room, or cabinet. I can! I know the smell of roaches. It reeks! Hubby says I am crazy. But I give you my word that I can tell if you have roaches in your house. Maybe I should find a job as "The Roach Detector", you think?

If an electric wire gets "hot", I can smell it faster than Hubby.

My grandparents (dad's side) house had an amazing smell. There was a cabinet in their dining room, where my grandmother kept chocolate bars. It smelled wonderful. It still does in my memory. I can close my eyes and sneak in there to steal a candy bar. Dark chocolate, with marzipan inside.

Mom's perfume was called "Fleur de Rocaille" and if I bring it to my mind, I want to cry. So, I will not do it!

The smell of wood in a lumber yard is heavenly to me! Leather stuff such as saddles and boots, hemp rope and fabric smell of childhood and sunny days.

I remember the smell of the bathroom in my aunt's house. She had three boys and a cabinet inside the bathroom, where the three little pigs kept their shoes... oh, how awful it was! And I was about six or seven years old, therefore, this was over fifty years ago.

Dang! This is weird. It HAS to be weird!

As we get older, we tend to reminisce a lot. The only thing I pray for, as my body goes down the drain, is that I do not loose my sense of smell. I may be deaf as a door, blind as a mole, mute as giraffe but, please, don't take away my bloodhound sense of smell!


Love ya!