Not Perfume Smelling Things

I like scented things that are out of the ordinary, things a bit unusual and strange. Not too strange, though. I'm not a big fan of mother's milk soap or perfume that smells like cheese, but I have been known to bury my nose in the pages of an old book just to smell the aging ink and musty, wilted paper.

Other unusual or non-perfumey things I like to point my nose toward are . . .

the scent of new money . . .

the rich, warm scent of a new baby's head . . .

line dried sheets - as a child I'd tell my mother that the sheets smelled of apricots when dried in the sun . . .

rusty window screens . . .

the upholstery of an old pick-up truck . . .

the scent of rain on hot asphalt . . .

warm, black tea . . .

ice . . .

San Francisco at dawn . . .

the scent of the woods and water at Big Sur while sitting on Adirondack chairs placed in the middle of a winter-cold stream . . .

a box of my father's possession sent to me after his funeral . . .