Thirteenth posting - air/smell

I heard this morning that the New York metro area currently has the worst levels of pollen in 10 years. Now all of the wheezing and sneezing I've been hearing at the office and in the neighborhood makes sense. I for one don't seem to have been as dramatically impacted by all the floating spores and seeds (at least for now)... but the lovely light yellow layer of floral dust on my black truck certainly confirms the pollen report.

I've been thinking a lot about air lately. Even the semblance of fresh air is important to me. Having the window open in the car, the air blasting me on an airplane (yes, I realize it's hardly "fresh") or a little fan in my office -- they all contribute to at least moving the air around me. Several years ago I spent some time in Estonia, where stiflingly warm and stale indoor air was accepted (and, to some extent, cultivated). Long winters surrounded by rarely cleaned suits and sweaters were hardly an olfactory delight, although I did recognize something very organic about it. The problem was that many of the folks I worked with recognized a possible odor issue and attempted to mask it with cologne or perfume. In some cases my own nose would get confused by scents competiting at the extremes, but in the end, just getting acknowledged as "unpleasant" in the middle.

Speaking of smells, there is a woman I work with who uses the same perfume as one of my elementary school teachers (20+ years ago). Interestingly, my co-worker is in her mid-30s now, and my teacher was probably the same age then. The only perfumes I remember by name from that time in my life are Chanel no. 5 (Mom) and Charlie (advertising). I can identify Chanel now, but for her sake, I hope it's not Charlie...

I have also read that the sniff people take when trying to imagine an odor closely resembles the sniff they would have taken if the odor were really there. For example, when imagining the smell of bus fumes, people take a timid sniff, but when imagining the smell of a rose, they take a vigorous sniff. I may try this as an experiment at the office today... (little do my co-workers know the guinea pig roles they will soon adopt...)

Sniff on! NATHAN