Jenny in Young Stars in the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud, © NASA
Jenny and I
met in the aisles of a grocery store before starting kindergarten together. As
I recall, she was hiding behind her mom's legs, and I was sort of foisting
myself and my friendship upon her. Her home is second only to my own on the
list of interiors I remember from childhood, and while the grocery store is
long gone, we are still friends, thank goodness, a quarter of a century later.
What do you
smell like?
I know I must smell like the things I consume most, especially because I’m
prone to spilling at least one of them on me daily--coffee, Greek yogurt, red
wine, and ice cream. Thanks to my absolute favorite perfume, Ginger Origins
(also one of my favorite things to smell), I hope I also smell strongly of
spicy gingery goodness. I’m
pretty sure I also smell of the scent of runny noses and waxy crayons
after a day with my first graders.
What do you
like to smell?
I like to
smell things that remind me of home—lilacs
blooming on the bush, old library books, dog breath, the whoosh of air from a
can of freshly cracked tennis balls, cheap sunscreen, tomato vines from the
garden, rubber bike tires, towels
line-dried in the yard, a deck of well-used cards, dusty fumes from heating
vents turned on for the first time each season, the spice of a pine tree, warm dryer sheets in the cool air outside,
and lemon pledge sprayed straight from the can.
