wake up and smell the roses

I had a respiratory virus now for 4 weeks and am still coughing and getting a bit breathless every so often. It is getting boring! Apparently this has been going the rounds and so many people are suffering from this virus that it seems like it is more normal to cough and splutter than not! The nurse I spoke to from my doctor's surgery said she should have just taped a message about this since those were about the only people phoning her for medical information! Living with a virus is not a big deal, anyone knows it usually goes away - eventually anyway. But what I had not factored in was the loss of my sense of smell. I cannot remember exactly when I realized I could not smell. At one point, I was cleaning out some things of Whitney's and found some old perfume, with no smell - so I threw it away. (I had cleared throwing away stuff with Whitney - I am not the kind of mother that throws their kids' stuff away on a whim!) A few days later, I noticed I could not smell anything at all....so I realized Whitney's old perfume was probably not that old and was able to retrieve all those poor unloved bottles!! It is odd and unexpectedly upsetting not to be able to smell anything! And it can be a bit dangerous! I bought some mentol crystals to help clear my head after a friend suggested this. I had used these with my kids years ago and know the vapour is really potent and can irritate your eyes and respiratory system if you use too much. I put in two almost microscopic particles with the boiling water, got my towel and began to steam my head! I did notice there was no vapour and was surprised. Then I wondered if I had not used enough....almost went to get more, but asked Alan to smell it. He didn't have to - sitting across the room, he could smell it fine. Going to a perfume counter, I have begun trying to smell the samples. I look like a regular customer, but I am not. There has been no result of smells with anything I have tried. I even got excited one time at work, when I thought my hair smelled bad! Not because I would like to smell bad, but because I thought I could smell it. That must have been some sort of phantom smell because I asked Alan when I got home and he said my hair smelled nice. (Ok, he is my husband, but he would have told me if it really didn't smell right!) They say your sense of taste is tied into your sense of smell. Maybe it is because I enjoy food so much, but I have not noticed less enjoyment of eating! Not being able to smell may not be alerting me to thinking I need to eat if someone is cooking or eating something I like close to me, so that might be what the experts meant about lack of smell affecting how a person eats. I know I am safe walking by a bakery or a steak restaurant - that would not even register! Maybe that is a benefit. Even walking by someone smoking - can't smell anything.....not all bad then!

You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry. Don't worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way. - Walter Hagen