Back in My Senses

Yesterday I walked into my house and was greeted by a pine scent. Not the pine cleaner, but real pine like you usually only smell in the forest.
I shouldn't have been surprised. My yard is a forest. I'm used to the scent of walnut, cedar, and in the spring, lilac drifting down when I walk different path. Pine is unusual, but I have one of those trees also. But since I have had a head cold for two weeks, I smelling anything was pleasant.
People love smelling things, even if it is the obnoxious odor of pine scented cleaner. Maybe that is because we are so bad at it. We have very few scent receptors, but scent ties us to some of our most cherished memories.
Dogs, for instance, have so many scent receptors that they can smell their owner before they can see them. Family pet waiting for you at the door? Mystery solved. It probably smelled you when you opened the car door.
My head is clear now, and already my brain is ignoring the scents around me. Just as well. I don't need any more distractions.
Nancy Sherer