The Nose Knows

I have been laying here awake thinking about random things, and out of the blue I start thinking about basements. Maybe it is because we are visiting my Niece in Tucson, where they don't seem to have any, but it just popped into my head.

I love the smell of a basement, I used to go down into my grandmas root cellar (that is what she called it) and just start inhaling. It is a comforting smell to me. It reminds me of home. Some people equate the smell of a basement with mildew or stale air, but to me it smells of the earth and life.

And then another thought came tumbling through the chaos, I love, love, love the smell of wet cement. Nothing is more serene to me then the smell of cement after a rain. I think it must be inherited because Sissy also loves the smell of wet cement.

I love that my memory is in my nose! My paternal grandparents died when I was quite young, but we had spent a lot of time with them up to that point, we even lived with them for a short time. Sometimes while walking around a lot of people I will catch a whiff of perfume from somewhere and I will feel my grandma close by. I don't know the name of this perfume or even if it is a perfume, I only know that my grandma becomes very near to me at times like this. For all I know it is my grandma, letting me know that she is still watching out for me and that she loves me.

I have been desperately wanting Spring to come....really, really, really badly have I wanted Spring to come, and the other night (or should I say morning) at 12:30 in the AM, we arrived home and I stepped out of the car and spring filled my nasal passages. I mean it came through the dark and the calm so completely that I had to stand and inhale for a full minute. I L.O.V.E. that my first full experience with Spring came through my nose.

This amazing sense of smell is a blessing to me in so many ways. It is one of the ways I can remember my little darlings so well. I love the smell of my little grandsons as they throw their little arms around my neck and tell me I am their 'best fwiend'. Every sense is awake and alert and completely, insanely happy at that particular moment. My nose is what keeps the memories connected for me. As I form each new memory, with each new hug, the smell says, 'Yes, you know this experience' and it is added upon, again and again.

What a blessing!
I am so grateful!