A nasal education

Each day presents new challenges for chemorecognition. The microscopic sensors w/in my nose are continually assaulted shortly after leaving the house....The neighbor has burned toast again, the deli down the street is frying some poor creature, someone urinated in the corner recently, the singed hair smell of overheating subway brakes, the plentiful cologne, BO, perfume aromas, and all those unidentifiable smells... I probably never want to know the identity of or source. But never do I settle into the comforting smells of decomposing leaf litter, sweet fragrance of plant sex or reassuring smells of organic processes. For those I must travel at least 2 hours away from this heavily homosapianed environment.
Even the rain has a pungent, lived in smell...

Coping Skills

In the absence of a TV, I have jumped ahead in the progression of life to the nursing home experience by purchasing a 750 piece oval puzzle. The selection of cheap puzzles is dismal and I’m dismayed to report my $10 purchase of what is a rather mediocre representation of goldfinches. But seeing as how the most dramatic bird I’ve seen in Brooklyn or NYC is a hybridized pigeon or mutated sparrow, the rendition of goldfinches in full mating colors will have to do. At night I pour a glass of cheap wine, crank the tunes and drift away into a problem with a clear beginning, end and solution….if only I dedicate enough time to staring at it. There is a certain peace that comes when two, then three, then more, pieces fit perfectly together and the picture becomes clear. Puzzle therapy is a real thing and should be prescribed for all graduate students.