Moor or less: Some readers show off their noteworthy noses

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about the smells — both good aromas and bad stenches — that stand out for me. Below are some comments from moorandmore readers about the smells they love or loathe.

Gary Niemier certainly knows what he likes:

“Fresh baked bread and biscuits, Italian restaurants, pizza, ballpark hotdogs roasting, steaks grilled over charcoal, and a baby fresh from a bath!”

A nice list. And his last one sure beats a baby fresh on the changing table.

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John Leavitt doesn’t have a foot fetish but he does love the smell of what goes on them:

“When I was a little kid in Canton, Missouri, my grandpa in his retirement made some extra spending money repairing and re-soling shoes out in his detached garage. My best friend growing up was Terry Moon, who lived right next door to my Grandma and Grandpa.  My Grandpa had put up a little platform treehouse in the apricot tree next to his shop, and that is where Terry and I hung out many summer days.  We would be in and out of my Grandpa’s shop and the smell of leather and the glue that he used to glue leather soles onto shoes was a smell of my childhood.  To this day, on the ever fewer times I have leather soled shoes repaired, walking into a shoe repair shop instantly takes me back to a time and place I loved.  Makes me want to linger for a few extra minutes!”

And John, a Nappanee guy, also talks about the smell of victory:

“You mentioned popcorn … NorthWood played the semi-state at Northside Gym in Elkhart this winter (One of many big wins for the state champion Panthers this year!)  Had been several years since I had been in ‘The Big Barn,’ but if I had been taken in blindfolded, the smell of popping popcorn and fountain Pepsi (mixed with a slight aroma of sweat) would have told me exactly where I was!  It took me back once again to a place of my youth with the best of memories!  A Panther win made it all the sweeter this time.”

John’s gym gems remind me of the smell of liniment in a locker room. Do they still use liniment for sore muscles or did it go the way of the jock strap?

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Jim Szekendi also recalls a scent that reminds him of visits to his grandparents:

“Your article brought back a fond memory of my youth. I would like to add a most pleasant smell I enjoyed as a kid growing up in the 1950s. This was in my grandfather’s garage. The smell was a combination of turpentine he used to clean his paint brushes and gasoline he used to clean his tools. Every time I went to my grandparents home, I headed to that garage just to enjoy inhaling these intoxicating smells.”

And yet Jim’s brain still seems to be normal all these years later.

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Anita Schwarz shares similar thoughts with me on a lot of different aromas and stenches:

“I agree with you on the coffee.  Love the brewing smell, or likewise, grinding the beans at the store.  But I can’t drink the stuff at all. Popcorn is similar to me — I like the smell way more than the eating.  Without the butter and salt, I have no use for the popcorn

“Don’t get me started on skunks.  Three of our dogs were sprayed in our backyard!  One happened in the early morning before work.  My clean-up attempts had me smelling so bad that my boss stopped in my office and suggested I leave to try and find some product to alleviate the smell. That was before I discovered the miracle solution — hydrogen peroxide, water and Dawn detergent.  Now we are always stocked with the key ingredients!  

“I hate diesel fumes!  So of course I always find myself following behind a diesel truck.”

Ah yes, Anita, diesel trucks. Does anyone else remember Steven Spielberg’s first full-length film, “Duel,” starring Dennis Weaver (alias Chester of “Gunsmoke”) and a truck driver whose face you never see. Almost as scary as “Jaws.”

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Keith Yoder wondered if I had a nose for a good story. I’m hoping his observations and those from above make this one interesting for you:

”I, too, loved the smell of the old ethanol plant as it had sort of the smell of fresh bread ready to bake. That yeasty smell

“And the  ‘NEW MOWED HAY!!!’  Drive by a farm when they were cutting hay the old-fashioned way and I think it smelled better than the faster mowers they have now days.

“One of those ‘dangerous smells’ is that of NIPSO natural gas. I can smell the slightest whiff of it.  And somebody has to smell it when (wife) Virginia leaves the burner on LOW after she removes the warming items.

”As for skunks: Over the last several years, I have trapped probably at least 30 or more and have never been sprayed releasing them. One did spray when I threw a blanket over the trap, but I was NOT in the way. Yeah, it took several months to completely air it out, but that was not too bad. I trap the skunks and take them across the St. Joe River and railroad tracks into the ‘wild area’ of Baugo Park south of 933.  DNR requires them to be released in the same county as caught and I figure that they can’t swim back across the river to get back and I am safe!!”

I looked it up, Keith, and skunks can indeed swim, although not as good as dogs. Maybe the railroad tracks (and an oncoming train) will do them in instead.

Contact Bill at [email protected]