it’s been two weeks now and my sense of taste and smell is returning. i thought that meant you enjoyed your food with a refreshed palate and that walking past the many flower and veg packed gardens of brunswick would be an olfactory orgy…
nope…so far, all i notice is the smell of warm people in venues, bad breath, how many times urinators have missed the unisex toilet bowl and my own odour that has obviously been just as noticeable to non-smokers over the last year or so, but is only now coming back to my attention…. oops.
i am over compensating with my hand creams, balms and oils, as if i can make up for lost time. like a big sorry day for the past year of musky, manky, overly familiar negligence.
i have a new respect for my silent toleraters. most of my friends smoke, but my mum doesn’t. my sister doesn’t and she inherited my grandma’s keen sense of smell. my grandma definitely doesn’t and i can’t believe i thought she’d buy it when i answered no to her ‘out of the blue’ question of my smoking status. she wouldn’t have asked if she couldn’t already smell it. she’s 84 years old…. not a naive spring chicken, who’s having their first time around on the planet.
less than a month ago, my four year old nephew even commented on the smell of my jacket. when i asked him what it smelled like, all he could say was, ‘like you’. oh, stinky auntie ang, how could you think that everyone’s sense of smell was dulled like yours?
i’m sure there are lots of beautiful aromas yet to make themselves known to my nose, but the consensus today is that the world smells and i’m a part of the world.
ang x