Sniff

For the sake of doing something interesting, as well as for entertainment purposes, I will be doing a 5 part series on senses. Yes class, this lesson begins today and ends....whenever I feel artistically average enough to ramble on in a not boring way. I got this idea yesterday when I couldn't smell anything because of my horrific/world's worst sinus infection EVER, which by the way has caused a 5 day headache. How do I know it is a sinus headache you ask? Let's rewind 5 years and hundreds of dollars ago to me getting a shot in my ass and being sent to get a cat scan on my brain because my idiot doctor couldn't figure out that no, it wasn't a tumor or even a migraine...but the worst case of chronic sinusitis that he had ever seen.

Anyways, I have gone many days without being able to smell. To me this is normal. I have had severe allergies and sinus issues since I was little, so I have learned to deal with it. My mother reacts to this by sighing, "Taylor you shouldn't have to live like that..." But I just roll my eyes. Then she tells me not to roll my eyes. So when I have a non-allergenic day (which is rare), I celebrate by taking it all in. I had one of these days on Friday when I got my hair cut...yes, also the day I contributed to the VIA fund (see previous post). I was walking through the Dillard's shoe section when I got a strong whiff of one of the most recognizable scents ever. A smell that takes me back to first kisses and butterflies. Curve. I assume many of you girls know it well if you ever had a boyfriend in the 1998-2004 era. I think it was a right of passage for every guy I ever came in contact with to completely cover themselves in the stuff. There was one that I swore bathed in it. Our sense of smell is more closely linked to our memories than any other sense. I can see why. At that very moment the memories came flooding in like f-ing Niagara Falls. It was so odd. I remembered an instance coming face to face with a boy (not to be named) at the door of my house in 10th grade after my mom had been diagnosed with cancer. I even remembered what t-shirt of his I slept in that he had sprayed the stuff on. I remembered burying my face in that same guy's neck 5 years later for a different reason. It was so surreal. There are places I walk into that smell exactly like my best friend from elementary school Bethany's house where I'll stop and say..."Oh weird...it smells like the Yoder's house in here." The smell of Crayola Crayons remind me of a million things, mostly just being young and loving life. The strong odor you get when you're driving into Port Aransas is SO exciting and recognizable because you've smelled it a hundred times and you know you're almost to the beach.

Some of my Favorites...
Starbucks...arguably my favorite one ever.
My Granddaddy's clothes.
Garlic
Buttercream Yankee Candles
Play-Doh. Weird, I know.
Babies
Noxema
Cigars
Cabbage Patch Dolls

I guess my point is that I am fairly happy that my sense of smell is handicapped. Otherwise I would probably be a babbling pile of tears and emotions on a daily basis. And nobody likes a crybaby.