Little Stinkers

In olden times- meaning I know it happened, but I don't know when- church leaders and rich people were buried inside the church. (Maybe that's where the advice “watch your step” came from.) The resulting smell, which anyone who watches Court TV knows, is distinctive and unforgettable, was called 'the odor of sanctity.'
I am familiar with this smell because I once had a dead raccoon enshrined in my chimney so you can imagine my dismay when I went to dry a load of laundry yesterday and found the same odor emanating from my dryer. Jerry, trooper that he is, stood a few feet away, held his breath, and said, 'I don't smell anything.'
But we changed the dryer hose anyway. It was a fairly simple task once I got the old hose into a garbage bag and outside the house. After we finished, I just had to look. Not knowing what I had trapped there would have bugged me forever.
Nancy Sherer