Think of the memories you may have related to smell. For example, I remember growing up and smelling the gravy cooking every Sunday in my grandma’s house. That memory is more rooted to the smell than the taste. Don’t get me wrong, it tasted delicious too, but it is the smell that I remember more than the taste. Another smell I remember vividly is the toasting of Pop Tarts. They were a favorite breakfast staple and snack in our house. I can still smell the fruity strawberry goodness heating up in the toaster. How about the smell of freshly baked cookies or other treats your mom made on a snow day? The warmth of my memories is rooted in the smells.
Living in the Northeast, I enjoy four seasons. OK, so maybe I really only enjoy three of them, but I experience the smells associated with the changing of all four. Springtime excites us with the smell of sunshine, lilacs spraying their scent, organic smell of earthy soil, sweaty runners, leather from a baseball glove, a musty garage getting aired out, and Easter chocolates. Summer satisfies our olfactory sense with freshly cut grass, chlorine splashing out of the pool, passing thunderstorms, fresh tomatoes growing in the garden, and luscious fresh berries. Fall rolls around teasing us with the scent of dry fallen leaves, turkeys baking in the oven, crisp cool morning air, applesauce simmering on the stove, and pumpkin pie cooling off on the counter. When winter rolls in, unwelcomed by some, it still arrives with some welcome smells such as fresh pine trees for the holiday, melting butter on steaming warm bread, beef stew simmering on the stove, and the smell of snow. Yes, there is a definite smell to the air when snow is imminent.
Having a heightened sense of smell is also beneficial for safety reasons. Being able to smell smoke or gas, for example, could be early warning signs of danger. Smoke detectors can also warn you of smoke, if you are indoors in a place that has one with a fresh battery. But relying on your nose is best in this instance. I consider my sense of smell to be very heightened. One time I was home alone with our two young sons. I smelled a distinct burning smell in one of the bedrooms but couldn’t identify what it was. I turned off the lights, opened the windows, and called the non-emergency fire department phone number. They sent a truck out without its blaring siren. The two firefighters who arrived couldn’t smell anything. They asked me to re-enact the scene exactly as it was when I smelled the odor. I closed the windows, turned the lights back on, and the smell began to seep back. They still couldn’t smell it, but I finally waled over to where it was strongest and identified it as a ‘glow-in-the-dark’ plastic bug my son put on top of the lampshade to ‘energize’ it, but it had fallen to the top of the bulb itself and was melting on the bulb. They were impressed with my sense of smell.
Another instance that shows my intense sensitivity to smell was one say when I smelled a skunk. I left for work one morning and as I descended the stairs to the basement level of the house, I smelled a skunk. I feared that one had somehow gotten in the house. As I entered the garage and got into the car, the smell was stronger. I began driving to work and when I got about half a mile down the road, I saw a dead skunk in the road.
Interestingly, as sensitive as I am to smell, one of our sons is just the opposite; he can barely smell anything. Regardless of how keen this sense is, it is one that we perhaps take for granted. It can affect our mood, our memories, our safety, or our choices. Although it may not be the most important sense, it sure is one I am glad I have. I have to go take the chocolate chip cookies out of the oven now. Do you smell them?
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| The nose knows more than you think. |
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