Delightful Smells

My last post was about the phantom smell of cigarette smoke that I experience on a regular basis. Today I am enjoying some real smells that make me happy!

First thing this morning, I started some sourdough in my bread machine. I enjoyed the yeasty, tangy smell of the dough being mixed and proofed all morning, until the bake started. Ahhh! I don’t know if I can think of a better smell than fresh bread baking!

Dennis has been building (from scratch) some doors that cover the closet where the furnace and water heater are. I don’t like louvers, because they are so hard to keep clean, so he is going to fit some decorative metal screening in the door panels for ventilation. Then he’ll make slots on the INSIDE of the doors for louvers, to block the view of the appliances in the closet. They will be painted black, as will the metal, so they should be virtually invisible. Plus the way he’s installing them, they can be easily pulled out for cleaning. ANYWAY, he is making the slats from cedar (it was the cheapest alternative he could find). So the house is filled with the sweet smell of cedar!

It is amazing how smells can evoke emotion and bring back memories so vividly! When I smell a certain cologne, I instantly think of my Grandma and feel peaceful and loved. The smell of a freshly bathed baby fills my heart with pure joy! Dennis loves the smell of oil refineries, because his dad worked in oil fields for a big part of his formative years. People may not rank smell at the top of their senses that they would hate to lose, but it would take so much pleasure from life if one were to lose it or have it distorted. In the support group that I’m in (on Facebook), there are MANY people who suffer from parosmia, which causes a distortion in one’s sense of smell. Most of the people affected are miserable! Things that they used to love to eat now make them ill. Many are depressed. Many find it difficult to eat anything. It is amazing how such a “little” thing as having one’s sense of smell damaged can change a person’s life!

I am very thankful for my sense of smell! Even though I often smell a bad odor that isn’t really there, I can still enjoy all of the wonderful, good scents around me. I hope that you can take some time to smell the roses or whatever delightful scent comes your way (both literally and figuratively)! 

Php 4:18 Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. (NKJV)