Dusted

My mom says she can smell dust. I tried not to look at her like she had three heads when she told me this on Sunday but my poker face is not great so the best I could do was look at her like she had two heads. Two heads are better than three. And I snickered and scoffed a little bit. (So I'm not an actress.) She asked me if I could smell dust. I told her if I could smell dust then that must be all I ever smell. Does air smell like dust? Does the entire world smell like dust? That's what my house smells like. I don't know what dust smells like.

There are a couple possible reasons why my mom could smell dust, or actually there are three. The first would be that she's got a good nose, a really good nose. I'm quite certain of this because I have a good nose as well. Some people have good ears and can hear really well, others have good eyes. In my family we rely on our olfactory sense for important things like, say, dust smelling.

The second reason would be that she's kind of a clean freak. And when I say "freak" mom I mean it in the best possible way. Really. When I'm at her house I hope that some of that clean will rub off on me and follow me home. Doesn't happen. And with just her and my dad at home her house is pretty stinkin' tidy. Could it be that she's actually developed a finely tuned nose? She has so entirely alleviated her environment of dust that when it settles in she can actually SMELL IT? Or could it be that I need to sit down with her and have a little "chat", maybe with a professional present, about what people can and can't "smell".

The third reason is that she is recently retired (a year ago) and a self proclaimed busy body. Being the dead of winter when she can't get outside and garden and work in her yard, there are going to be moments when she's not busy. She doesn't just sit down and relax often and now that she is - guess what? She's "smelling dust." But like Tim says, at least she doesn't see dead people. If she tells me the dust bunnies are trying to converse with her then I'll know it's time to intervene.

So I'm not sure what the answer is and if I should worry about her (it's probably all of the above) but I do know that it is indeed "Magical, Musical and Maniacal (because my kids are home) Monday so in honor of my mother (while she's still lucid) this one is for her. Enjoy.