Imagine for a moment:
the smell of fresh bread or cookies baking ... your favourite perfume ... the sweet scent of your baby's neck ... aromas of delicious food ... the fresh smell of newly-washed laundry ... cut grass ... flowers ...
the smooth taste of chocolate as it melts on your tongue ... the flavours of herbs, spices, garlic ... that perfect hit when you indulge in a craving ... the subtleness of vanilla ...
I've been living without all of these for two months now. My sense of smell (and taste, besides the basic salt-sweet-sour-bitter) disappeared completely with a bad sinus infection at the end of last year, and is only now starting to return after 2 rounds of antibiotics and some steroid spray. I was astonished at how much I relied on my sense of smell daily. Of course, there were positives: I couldn't smell Noah's poo when I changed his nappy (and anyone who has been present on such an occasion can testify to the vileness of the reek!), stinky public toilets, car exhaust fumes or freshly-manured fields. But I also couldn't tell when something I was baking was burning until smoke came pouring out of the oven, I couldn't check if milk was fresh without asking Grant to sniff it, I couldn't tell when Noah needed a nappy change unless I pulled down his trousers and had a visual check, I couldn't taste any of my food, I had to triple check to make sure I'd turned off the gas fire properly because I wouldn't be able to smell leaking gas, I was a bit worried when I had people around to visit because I didn't know if my house smelled of something (e.g. if we'd had curry that week) and I couldn't taste the food I was serving them, and when I had a craving for hot chocolate the craving didn't go away after I undulged because I hadn't been able to enjoy the flavour. I especially missed the smell of Noah's skin and hair; he still has that baby smell to him and I know it won't be for long.
It's true what they say - you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. I'm so glad it's coming back.
