A Little Change of Pace This Week

 

   My daughter recently signed me up to write some of my thoughts and ideas about different topics each, that she picks, to eventually become part of a books at some future date. The most recent topic was about “the smells that I like”. Interesting. It did cause me to think a bit and after completing it and sending it off, I decided to use if for one of my columns for the paper. So here we go. 

   When it comes to smells, the nose knows. I have found throughout my lifetime that my nose has proven to be very useful in determining my likes and dislikes and while hearing and eyesight and what I see are important, smell is also an important tool in helping us navigate life.

  In thinking about the smells I like, I can put them in different categories, the first being food. One of my favorites is a freshly baked pumpkin pie. There is nothing like walking into the house and within a few brief seconds know that there will be a wonderful dessert of pumpkin pie and although I can’t smell it yet, I know there is also a fresh container of whipped cream to enhance each bite of pie. Perhaps it is the whipped cream I really like.

   Still in the food category, those summer evenings and the smell of fresh hamburgers on the grill begin to prepare the taste buds for an enjoyable and relaxing evening.

   Moving on from food, I find the smell of freshly cut wood processed with the help of my table saw sets the tone for the project I might be working on. The most fragrant wood I think is pine. But more important, the smell of the wood is the glue that I will be working on for another project around the house.

   As I have gotten older, I am not as interested in all the aftershave lotions and body creams that are available on the shelves of the local stores. But I will admit that every once and a while I will come inside after spending some time outside in a hot and very humid day and splash a bit of smell freshener across my face.

   I think one of my favorite smells, thought, is the smell Mother Nature creates after a brief Spring rain shower. It can be peaceful, calming and somewhat reassuring that I don’t have to go outside and water the garden for at least a few more minutes.

   And last, a walk through the woods with the fresh scent of the tall pine trees and other smells nature has to offer is a good escape from the odors created by the exhausts created by the cars and trucks racing up and down the interstate highway.

   Now there is one smell on my list that might surprise you. It is the smell of the manure being spread on the local fields in preparation for the upcoming growing season. Truth is that it is not the smell I enjoy but knowing that winter is behind us now and summer will soon be here.