Smelling things - or wishing I couldn't!

Hello ,

When I was a young adult I decided my nose didn't work so well. Other people would talk about what they could smell.  Although I might have been right next to them, I could only just detect (1) what they were talking about.

Not having a good sense of smell was handy at times. There were things on the farm that you really didn't want to smell!

At work, too.  

I remember one year, I was at the school where I worked after the summer holiday. There was an unpleasant odour (2) in one corner of my room. It wasn't strong, and I couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

Until I lifted the lid of the freezer!

Yuk!

Thankfully, there was only one bag inside, but it was disgusting. The freezer had been turned off all holidays!

I moved the freezer outside and started cleaning.

The man who did repair jobs around the school came past and saw what I was doing, but left again.  

The freezer was small, but it was tricky to lay it down to let the water run out and then stand it up again. I didn't ask for help, but I also wondered why he didn't offer.

(Later, someone told me that he had to keep moving - even outside, the smell was too much for him.)

However, I also remember a holiday with a friend. We visited a city, and I complained to her about how we often walked past places on the streets that smelt like urine. She hadn't noticed but wondered if that was because urine was a normal smell for her as a nurse. 

Or maybe my nose wasn't as bad as I thought!

Anyway, the other day, I was standing outside. No one was close to me, but I could clearly smell something. It was musk (3) perfume.

I was curious and looked around. The nearest person was about 5 metres away.

So, my nose works OK ... or that lady was wearing a lot of perfume!! 

Do you have a good sense of smell, ? Have you had an experience of smelling something that was really horrible - or amazing? Feel free to share...

Hope you're enjoying the beautiful aromas (4) of Christmas,

Andrea

(1) detect - to notice

(2) odour - a word for a smell, but usually a 'not nice' smell

(3) musk - a substance from musk deer, with a special smell. It's often used to make perfumes.

(4) aroma - a word for a smell, but usually a pleasant one