Seduced by potatoes

Alright, that title needs a little explanation. I've been meaning to write about this for several days, if not weeks... random smells-- I'm fascinated by them.

Where does a whiff of perfume come from when there's no visible person in your vicinity? How come that smell so often reminds you of someone you once knew? What are the odds that today at work I would be brought back to two very distinct times in my life, smelling both Dustin's cologne and the perfume of one of my elementary school teachers within twenty minutes of each other. Random.

For the past few weeks I've had to drive by a construction site near my home, and almost every day I smell potatoes. It makes no sense to me. Prior to construction, this area had been one of those usual parcels of land-- nothing all that beautiful, just something you passed on your way to somewhere else. They knocked it down to build-- get this-- another housing development. The smell of potatoes is so strong you have to wonder if this was an old farm back in the day and they're digging up remnants of the past. And here's where this blog entry's title comes in: There's something about the smell of potatoes for me... or maybe it's just the dirt... I don't know, but it makes me happy. In a strangely oxymoron-ic way, the dirt smells clean... fresh... crisp. It smells simple.

There's another parcel of land further down the road that is just an empty field with a chain link fence marking off it's boundaries. There's one of those pubic notice signs on the fence that states something too small to read from the road, but I suspect it's a sign of more construction to come. And every time I pass this area, I smell the strongest scent of sweet grass. It's like a tiny meditation every time I pass it, causing me to breathe deeper and become more aware of my surroundings.

The doldrums of work were interrupted for a brief moment by good memories from my past. The disturbing sight of construction was eased a little by the fragrant smell of vegetation. Is this natures way of soothing us? Are all of these scents readily available to us from somewhere beyond in order to ease any bad feelings of the moment? Do they really come from the outside or do they get conjured up from somewhere within ourselves? So many questions...

So basically, life is good because of random smells:
-that cause me to stop and notice the moment that I'm in... right then and there
-that take me back to good times and good memories
-that cause me to ponder deeper things about the inner workings of life

And most of all, life is good because of unanswered questions. I kind of like making my own stuff up to explain things!