Thanks to all who entered the paperback giveaway. I loved reading all of your comments. Though I’ve picked winners (thanks, random.org!), please do continue to tell us about your favorite scents and scent memories in the comments. Scent is so evocative, so moving, so telling, so present far beyond the here and now. I want more!
The numbers pulled for the paperback winners were comments #12
and #31. This means Miss T and Leanne. Please email me (molly.birnbaum@gmail.com) your
mailing addresses, and I’ll put those books in the mail, ASAP.
In the meantime, I’ll finish this post with a
little sampling of my (many) favorite comments:
“My favourite scent comes
from tomato plants. That green, vegetal smell is something I wait for all year.” -- JB.
“I remember my whole
preschool class charging down a Baltimore street and screaming, trying to
outrun the putrid smell of crushed ginkgo seeds on the sidewalk. It's a
horrible, nauseating smell but for some reason I am now very fond of the
beautiful trees with their fan-shaped leaves that remind me of the wonder of
being a little kid.” -- Jenn.
“My earliest memories of
realizing that I had no sense of smell are, reading a scratch and sniff book
with my mom and wondering why everything smelled the same and thinking that
maybe the books just don't work. I also remember playing a game in my
Kindergarten class where I'd be blindfolded and would pick an object from a bag
and then asked to figure out what it was simply by smelling it. And that
anxiety of hoping I wouldn't pull out perfume or hoping that I would pick
something out of the bag, like a rock, that I wouldn't have to smell but could
feel it and tell what it was. Unfortunately, I went home smelling of perfume
and a memory of the confused look on my teacher's face when I told her that I
couldn't smell.” -- Garrett.
“When I smell a clove
cigarette I'm back in college, wearing Doc Martens, listening to Seattle-based
grunge rock, planning political protests and falling in love.” -- Kerry.
“I love the smell of
just-picked cucumbers, fresh from the backyard garden -- the kind that still
have white spikes on them and probably taste bitter at the ends.” -- D.
“A long time ago, Crayola
made crayons that smelled like their color. The brown one was labeled
"dirt" and smelled exactly like the grass and dirt after a rainstorm,
which is one of my favorite scents, it reminds me of being outdoors. I still can't
figure out how Crayola managed to nail that scent so precisely.” --
Michele. [Ed note: I remember that! It
was like magic.]
And, “If I'm not too late,
it'd have to tack stores. Or, more specifically, new leather. Not at all animal
friendly, but the scent makes me swoon.” -- Jacqueline.
