After all this time and all this loss, Covid19 finally arrived in the bodies of those living in my home.
It was a Thursday afternoon, the breeze was warm… it was a sick classmate coughing into the back of my oldest daughter’s head for an hour during class. Then she came to visit me.
So, outside of some comorbidity problems and the fact that the first two days of infection gave me accelerated arrhythmia, my only true gripe is my loss of smell.
I Smell Things.
I use my nose a lot. More than most anyone I know about. To tell the truth, I don’t think anyone has ever shared their smelling preferences with me. Maybe that will change after this article.
But I use my nose a lot. I use it for issues of safety, the enjoyment of moments, the reminder of things, and all around everything.
So, two days ago when I could not smell that it was time to get up and later, that my coffee was ready, I had a little moment. Not a big moment being called a little moment, really, a little moment. “What is going on? Something is wrong!”
My first trip was to the kitchen cabinet to grab the frankincense. Nothing. Then to the pantry to inhale the assorted coffees. Still, nothing. I immediately dropped some raw peppermint in my mouth. “TASTE IS THERE!” Mistake.
So, no biggie. I have now read about six articles on the phenomena and no one knows anything about it, it’s all guesses and conjecture and only about 7% of people have permanent loss of their ability to smell. What? 7% – that seems way too high.
OK, so I moved on, wrote a few articles, read, studied, tended to the sick and myself, and then last night it hit me. What happens if I cannot smell the house burning? What happens if….? or…? I kept waking up, testing my nose, checking the house, and having a bigger moment over the loss of smell.
This afternoon I whined a little to my bride, “I am emotionally tied to my sense of smell. I surely hope to see this recover soon.”
Well, since that hour I have been the laughing stock of the house. Even my eight-year-old has joined in, “Oh, Daddy, everyone needs their smell, we all are the same…” Turns out I am not special in that sense. (pun intended)
When I think of it, I am not special in probably any of my emotions except that they belong to me. I have learned also that when I share what I am thinking with those closest to me that we all seem to have similar overlaps in experiences. It’s fun to engage, realize you’re not alone, and embrace even the silliness that grows out of serious things.
I have laughed a lot at being laughed at today. I don’t get riled up too often, but this was a good one.
I’m happy to have a happy household. We are better equipped now to help each other sniff out the problems. And if I never get my smell back, oh well, it will help when washing the dog.
I’ve had fun discovering just what smells I am missing. I’m trying to not start an anthology of poems…
Just curious. What smells are special to you? What emotions are tied to certain smells?