The Joy of Scent

For about the last five years, I've had a lot of problems with my sinuses. I've tried all sorts of stuff to fix them (if one more person tells me to try a neti pot I will scream), but the problem still comes and goes in waves of sinus infections. Obvious and worst side effect: not being able to breathe. Less obvious but more troubling side effect: loss of smell.

When you can't smell anything, it's not like losing your hearing or vision. Life goes on basically the same, and you walk around oblivious in a scent-free world. Sometimes it's even a good thing, when everyone around you is writhing over some horrible stink, and you're grinning like a fool. But then comes dinner time at a fancy restaurant, and you find yourself eating a $40 plate that looks like a work of art and wondering how it tastes. Fresh mint and eucalyptus leaves are interchangeable for you. Or you're cooking, and you lean over the bubbling pot to waft some steam towards your face, and...nothing.

I'm on a new mix of drugs this week, and the swelling in my sinuses has gone down enough that my smell receptors have resurfaced. I don't recommend it, but if you do ever happen to lose your sense of smell for an extended period of time, it's pretty awesome when it comes back. All of a sudden, you smell EVERYTHING. It's like super-bionic smell, you can smell carpet and paint and grass and dirt and motor oil and everything you walk past, and because it's been so long, it all smells good. It's a symphony in your nostrils. Right now I'm doing some laundry, and the detergent is kind of blowing my mind. It's so STRONG.

Anyhow, that's all I wanted to share for today. Kind of random. Writing progress continues, chapter 9 has been (mostly) dealt with. I just can't blog about writing when I'm so obsessed with grabbing everything in sight and stuffing it under my nose. Anybody else gone through something like this? No? Well, enjoy the weekend. JuNoWriMo'ers, be productive!