After my workout this morning, I headed to the grocery store down the block to pick up the amazing-awesome-totally-can’t-miss bags of onions, potatoes and carrots for only 99 cents each.
As I departed my car and braced myself against the biting wind, I noticed a smell on the air blowing by me. Hot dogs. Oh the delicious spicy smell of roasting hot dogs. My mouth instantly started watering and I felt almost like I’d just had a make out session with my husband. You know, that fuzzy, blurry feeling – like you are moving in slow motion? Yeah. That’s what the smell of hot dogs did to me. Wow. I managed to get myself past the cart where the greasy dude was selling equally (delicious I’m sure) greasy food and into the store.
But, the smell onslaught continued. I popped down the baking aisle for some cornmeal, and decided to do a double pass because the combined smells of brown sugar, chocolate chips, coconut and marshmallows were so fantastic. Actually, the marshmallows were so delightful, I decided to pick some up so I could make rice crispy treats tonight. I felt amazing – the smell of baking was actually giving me a little high.
As I walked in the door with my groceries, I noticed my house still had the lingering scent of cinnamon and sugar from the snickerdoodles I baked (and subsequently devoured) last night. Thus the extended Saturday morning workout today. Dee-licious. Tempting and horrible, knowing there were still a couple cookies remaining on the counter, but dee-licious smelling all the same.
Later this afternoon, we decided to brave the <insert sarcasm only Seattle-ites will probably understand> insane blizzard of snow and ice and make a family trip to Costco. We received our rebate last week (woo-hoo!) and it was burning a hole in our pockets. More smells. On the way in I was assaulted with the aroma of cheese – lots of cheese. Pizza. Yummmm. Pizza. Inside the store it was rotisserie chickens that made the carnivore in me want to attack. And on the way back out I caught the sweet spice of churros baking. As a side note, the churros at Costco always takes me to Disneyland – which has 1000 smells that I love. I especially love walking past the Candy Palace on main street – home of the greatest fudge on the planet. The enticing decadent smell of that fudge is one of the best things that has ever happened to my nose. Which reminds me – my sister is bringing me back some when she returns from Disneyland on Monday. Yipee!! But I digress.
I’m not sure why my smeller was especially alert today. You’d think that with all the nasty diapers I’ve changed recently, my sense of smell would be pretty damaged. I guess not. It’s been a while since I really took notice of all the scents in life. Today was full of food smells, but my heightened awareness of those made me notice others around me as well. The smell of fresh snow – clean and crisp. The musky comfort of my husband’s neck as he hugs me. The familiar coziness of snuggling down into my bed. My baby boy’s milky breath. My daughter’s strawberry scented curls. The smells of a day are wonderful in their ability to soothe, relax, rejuvenate and revive us. I think smell is (forgive the expression) the red-headed-step-child of the senses. We notice bad smells – boy do we ever. But I don’t think we give enough recognition to all the fabulous aromas in life. I really enjoyed all the smells in my day today. And think, if you pay attention, you’ll catch a whiff of something that makes your day more pleasant too. Happy sniffing.
Bakerlady 