The sense of smell is a tricky one for me. As is true for most people, it has the capacity to invoke strong memories in me. Unlike most people, it’s a warning, alerting me to the possibility of becoming ill. Sometimes it’s hard to reconcile the two. How I long to be able to sit and smell my Grandfather’s cologne and be transported back to my childhood, laying in his lap in their living room and the feelings of safety and peace that well-known scent conveyed. These days it would trigger the exact opposite; fear and panic. I remember reading a book shortly after I became very ill. I could only read a little bit at a time before the ink would start to get to me, quite the blow for a life-long bookworm. The main character was talking about a package that her mother sent from halfway across the world, how she pressed the skirt to her face and just breathed and breathed because it smelled of her Mama. I remember crying because at the time, the smell of my own mother made me ill.
These days we lead a lightly scented life, full of naturally occurring smells. There are blessings in this too. You really do become more keenly aware of subtle aromas and notice things that might otherwise have gone undetected.
Some of the things I’ve been smelling this last week:
~baking smells; Irish Soda Bread, blueberry muffins at the beginning of the week and blueberry crisp toward the end (my supply is dwindling).
~wood smoke and damp earth
~the warm dusty smell put off by the light bulb in my sewing machine when I run it for hours on end
~the unique scent of different pillows as I cuddle each child before sleep
~cooking smells; stew with red wine, roasted root vegetables, Moroccan Carrot Soup, roasted chicken and Yorkshire Pudding
~Spring carried on the breeze
~baby hair, sweet milky breath
~the old, odd smell of new to us wooden chairs
~wool and lanolin
~freshly split wood
so many times i have had to run out of stores – coughing and choking and turning red – because of someones’ cologne or perfume or some other strong smell like cleaning products, etc.
i recently had to ask my piano teacher to please refrain from wearing any strong scents. it still embarasses me, even though i know it shouldn’t.
Oh (sob!) sweet milky breath!!!! A scent of angels surely! I miss that so much.
This post was vivid and breathtaking, from the joy of the smell of a grandfather, to the distaste in the smell of a mother, to the everyday comforting, wistful, and invigorating smells of home. Beautiful post!