I love it when nature sneaks up my nose in a good way.
While we were getting loaded the other day in Modesto, California, I took Jas for a walk. We were in an industrial area; blocks and blocks of warehouses, concrete, and no nature to speak of, with only a strip of dirt along the road and some trees here and there.
All of a sudden I stopped and took a deep breath, wondering what I was smelling that was so familiar and aromatic. Just as the name came to me I saw the big tree right in front of me. Eucalyptus! (Like eureka! only more fragrant.)
Did you know that eureka is California's state motto? It's Greek for "I have found it" and refers to the discovery of gold there.
I love the smell of eucalyptus. It has a clean, almost minty but kind of zingy smell. I brought some leaves back to the truck and stuck them in the a/c vent to go with the rosemary sprigs I had found earlier at a truck stop.
Rosemary is a common landscape plant in California, I'm always finding it and I love the smell of it too. Piney and zingy. (Zingy is the word of the day, apparently)
Have you ever noticed that you can't really describe a smell without referring to another smell? Or zingy.
I have a super-smeller nose which is both a blessing and a curse.
Blessing:
One time I saved us a eleventy hundred dollars because I identified a leak in the rear differential on our truck using my nose.
The gear oil in the rear differential has a particular smell and I when I walked by the rear tires I caught a whiff and told Himself. He got a flashlight and crawled under the truck and sure enough, there was a small leak.
It was only a matter of time before all hell broke loose and the truck exploded in a fiery death ball.
Himself wants me to point out here, that the whole fiery-death-ball scenario is not true and I would like to point out that it's a lot more exciting than the truth, which is something about grinding gears and costly repairs, etc., etc. We agree to disagree.
Curse:
My smeller works so well that I can tell when Jas is yawning three feet behind me. Her mouth smells like a dumpster behind a fish market where the garbage men are on strike.
✦✦✦✦✦
The eucalyptus and rosemary zinged up my brain so much that I decided to make a list of my favorite smells and I asked Himself to do the same.
My list of good smells: Himself's list of good smells:
limes wet dog
mint diesel fumes from an old bus
rosemary bleach and Comet mixed*
eucalyptus grill marks on meat
lavender strawberries
One of us is clearly a psychopath.
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| Does this bed make me look crazy? |
What's your favorite smell?
* Comet and bleach mixed together will kill you in a fiery death ball.
Himself either has an odd sniffer, or that explains why men think they need to use the entire bottle of cologne in less than a week. Rosemary is one of my favorites. I love the ones trimmed up like a Christmas tree during Christmas. Unfortunately, they die quickly under my care.
ReplyDeleteHimself is definitely has an odd sniffer. And thankfully he doesn't wear cologne, but that's probably only because they don't make Eau d' Wet Dog.
DeleteApparently, Borat wrote that first sentence. :/
DeleteMore coffee, stat!
My two favorite smells are the smell of pine trees and the smell of optimism. I also like the smell of strawberries.
ReplyDeleteOhh, pine trees are good and zingy too.
DeleteWhat if you're opitmistic about getting a job at the landfill? Then optimisim would smell like rotten veggies and dead animals.
I LOVE the smell of eucalyptus. It's so fresh... it makes the air smell clean and brisk! Absolutely one of the best scents ever. Other than that, I love the smell of freshly washed clothes that come out of my grandma's washing machine. And I love the sexy smell of men when they're wearing cologne or aftershave. Hmmmmm what else... I love the smell of the Baby Bottom Butter which I bought in London a few years ago and used as moisturiser on my face. And, of course, the smell of baking anything is so good!
ReplyDeleteHimself sounds like a funny guy.
I hope the Baby Bottom Butter is not actually made from baby bottoms. Although, maybe that's the cure to a youthful face. ;)
DeleteI forgot about baking smells, mmmm, I love the smell of bread in the oven and sometimes I make cookies just to get the smell. Not to eat them by the dozen, of course.
Himself is one of a kind and I wouldn't want him any other way.
Zingy smells are pretty great like citrus and herbs. Welcome to sunny CA.
ReplyDeleteThanks JKS! I love squeezing limes or lemons in ice water because that zingy smell comes zinging up my nose with every sip.
DeleteWe're in Indiana now and today's smell is clover.
Thanks for riding along!
I didn't know the grill marks were the actual cause of a smell. I thought they were more signs of a smell.
ReplyDeleteI love the smell of movie popcorn, and, even though I don't eat red meat anymore, I do love the smell of hamburgers on a grill. Or maybe it's the grill marks? I'm all confused now.
He wanted me to change that to grilled meat, but grill marks were his original answer so I stuck with that. Also, he's never forgiven Burger King for not having grill marks on their meat the one time he ever ate there. He refuses to go back.
DeleteGrill marks are the key to everything, apparently.
...and this post was brought to you by the letter Z.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I LOVE doing when I'm eating something like lamb chops is put a stick of rosemary by my plate. I rub the rosemary between my hands and every time I lift the tasty morsel of lamb to my mouth I smell the happy rosemary on my hand. Yum.
Hee hee. But now we're in a truck stop and this afternoon's smell is pee.
DeleteI llike the rosemary trick. I wish I had a piece now.
Jas in her bed made me snort - yes, I'm sure it's the *bed* making her look crazy. ::wink,wink:: It was so funny I can't remember what my real comment was going to be...
ReplyDeleteI vote for freshly cut grass, sheets dried on a line in the sun, and the top of HypnoBaby's head after a bath. And the quiet spaces when my kids pause for breath in the middle of a long, pointless story, if that has a smell.
Ooh, I forgot about fresh cut grass! It smells even better if someone other than me cuts it.
DeleteI may be related to your kids because a lot of times my stories are long and pointless and have no end, which is why I end my stories by saying The End (patent pending) so people won't stand there looking at me, trying to figure out if it's ok to leave.
i've got a sensitive sniffer too...which is one of the reasons we ended up having to pull the bathroom apart...cause i kept sniffing the air...and it smelled moldy-ish. i hate when i smell something dead. like one time...the neighbor's cat in our side yard...or the 'possum under the shed out back.
ReplyDeletei'll take eucalyptus, jasmine, gardenia, lavender...mowed grass, citrus groves, even the smell of burning leaves...any day!
I drive Himself crazy with my sniffer! I'm always asking, "do you smell that?" I think it's my only natural skill and one I could do without. :/
DeleteFresh rain in a dry climte, fresh-cut christmas trees, line-dried laundry, ripe cantalope, BBQ anything, lavender, wild roses.... now you've made me hungry - cinnamon!
ReplyDeleteOoh, I love cinnamon! And rain does smell especially good when it's dry, when the dust mixes up with the wet and everything just gets softer. That's a good one!
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