Paperback Giveaway Winners

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.