Things that Smell Good

I was reading an article recently where another AC writer, Nancy Canfield, had written in the comment section that coffee never lives up to the smell. As I was reading this, my house was filled with the smell of roasting peanuts. In the cooler weather, I often buy raw peanuts and roast them in the oven on a low temperature for a long period of time. The smell is fantastic. But I have to admit in agreement with Nancy, that many times, as good as they smell, some things don't always follow through on taste.

Bacon cooking, however you fix it, is always a wonderful smell in the morning, especially if I'm in the bed when the aroma drifts into the room. That means someone else is cooking breakfast. That's one point in its favor. As I don't usually eat a heavy breakfast, I often enjoy the treat of the hubby rising early and fixing breakfast, even though I will only eat a bit of it. (Don't get too gushy because it doesn't happen that often.)

I love the smell of coffee in the morning. I especially love my coffee pot with the timer on it which allows me to smell the coffee before I crawl out of bed. The first hot sip is a delight, but my ardor cools down as quickly as the coffee.

Contrary to a number of folks, I love the smell of garlic and onion sautéing in a pan. It quickly fills the room with the promise of some wonderful dish that will later be on my plate.

The smell of spices such as allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves filling the air reminds me of being a child at busy baking times and holidays. I'm reminded of ham baking in the oven, and desserts covering the counter.

A whiff of Shalimar and Channel No. 5 perfume reminds me of my grandmother when she was alive. As a child, I would sit at her dressing table where her lady's accessories would rest, her hairbrushes, makeup and jewelry, and the fancy bottles of perfumes. What a treat to dab that wee tad of wonderful fragrance on my wrist would be.

The clean smell of baby powder floating in the air is a reminder of when my children were first born, and how I would sit in amazement that something so perfect could have arrived in our home, especially since we were so imperfect and made so many mistakes. It reminds me of my grown children and how pleased I am that they grew into such talented and compassionate adults.

The smell of wood burning transports me to younger days and reminds of some of the difficult times when money was scarce, and futures looked bleak. I like the smell, though, because it reminds me how fortunate I am to have the good times.

And finally, I love the smell of rain falling on the ground when the first few drops settle the dust. It's a natural smell that emphasizes to me the cycle of nature. I think about being a child pushing my bare foot around in the powdery dust, and when the rain would start to pelt the ground, it was only a matter of minutes before I would have to go into the house.

Smell is an amazing sense of the human body to me. It's one of the few that can actually transport us to another time and place in an instant. And on some days, we really need to go somewhere else, if only for a few minutes.