I smell well.

I love smelling and I'm really good at it. I'd even say that it is a super power.

I’m not talking about the scent that I give off, but rather the scents I take in. (Although since I recently switched deodorants, my kids linger a little longer around my armpits saying, "I love the way you smell!" The lid of my deodorant describes the smell as "exotic wind and spicy freedom.")

As long as I can remember, I’ve always stuck my nose deep into foods before I ate them. (I love the warm smell of Rhodes Rolls fresh out of the oven on Sunday afternoon.) This drove my mom (and now my wife) crazy. "Get your nose out of there! We’re going to eat that!"

But in my defense, I can’t fully enjoy food without experiencing everything it has to offer. And I can’t just take a cursory whiff; I’ve got to dig into it. I don’t want other scents around the dish to influence the item I’m inhaling.

This obsession with smells manifests itself in every aspect of my life. Anything new or anything that comes in a package gets a deep olfactory inspection: board games, computers, and books.

When people walk by me in close spaces, I take an incognito deep breath through my nose, hold it, analyze it, and slowly let it out. I’ve gotten really good at this over the years. If you’ve ever met me, I’ve done it to you. And you probably didn’t even notice. Do you see now why I think it’s super power?

The one thing that my wife likes about my obsession with smells is that my nose knows when to pull things out of the oven. We still set the timer, but the times we trust the timer over my nose, the dish is either undercooked or burnt.

Some of my favorite uncommon smells:
- Doctors’ offices (the rubbing alcohol and the patient files)
- Dentists’ offices (the hint of the nitrous oxide, the paper bib, and the flavored paste)
- Old Navy (the mixture of new clothes and rubber (do they make tires too?))
- A sleeping baby (they smell good when they just wake up too.)
- Almond oil (my mom would rub this on our faces as kids. I’m surprised I have any open pores. I am grateful though; it's really helped reduce the signs of aging.)
- Wet pretzels (I like to lick off the salt on an individual pretzel and smell it. It sounds gross, I know, but don't knock it `til you try it. You don't know how hard it is to not do it in public, like on airplanes.)
- Puppy breath (is so pure, it almost makes me cry.)
- Fresh mown grass (the way grass and gas fumes mix is heavenly.)
- A hot rag with Pine Sol (a Pine Sol disinfected kitchen floor is the perfect smell of clean.)

Some of my least favorite smells:
- A cold rag with Pine Sol (a cold rag that was used to clean the kitchen floor that gets left in the sink somehow manages to negate the clean smell. My advice: as soon as the floor is cleaned, take the rag outside or put it in the wash.)
- Headaches (they smell like a Coca-Cola Slurpee and linger for hours.)
- Mean people (they have a spicy, stir-fry smell to them.)

My favorite smell is my wife. I'm not just saying this to get points (but if they come, I'll gladly accept them). I don’t know how she does it, but from the moment she wakes up to the moment she goes to bed, she smells like flowers and love and freedom.

So the next time you see me up close and it looks like I'm pondering the universe, know that my nose is collecting, analyzing, and (hopefully) enjoying the smells around me (including you).