Friday, March 29, 2024

I Was Thinking . . . The Nose Have It

Of all of our facial features, the nose is the most often complained about. It is too big, too small, too pointy, to flat, too curved, or too crooked. 

Nose jobs are the most common of all cosmetic surgeries. It is also distinctive from the other body parts we use to sense the world around us. We have two ears to hear, two eyes to see, and two hands to feel but just one nose.  However, it does have a strategic location, right in the middle of our face, or as some would say, “As clear as the nose on your face.”

There is probably no other organ that has more nicknames than the common nose. You could have a beak, a hooter, a proboscis, a snout, a honker, a schnoz, a bugle, a sniffer or a pug. 

Certain people have become famous because of their noses. Both Bob Hope and Jimmy Durante used their uniquely shaped noses to further their careers. Even a TV show like “I Dream of Jeannie” used a twitching nose as a major part of the series. Some notables like Albert Einstein, Barbra Streisand, Lady Gaga, and Meryl Streep are easily identified by their distinctive noses.  

The nose has many useful functions. It filters the air we breathe, helps to hold up a pair of glasses, and can be used to butt into other people’s business. 

But its main function is to smell. This ability can create pleasurable or repugnant responses depending on what our nose takes in. Fresh cut grass, lilacs in spring, and freshly baked bread not only are enjoyable but also may conjure up delightful memories.  

Smells have a unique ability to retrieve long tucked away experiences. The smell of tar reminds my wife of the first day of school. Her elementary school regularly resurfaced the school roof with tar right before school began. A nicer school reminder was the smell of a brand-new box of crayons.   

The whiff of pipe smoke helps me recall the smell of the inside of grandpa’s car. Burning leaves harken us back to falls long since passed. People that are my age can probably also remember the distinctive smell of a freshly dittoed handout passed out by a teacher. 

But occasionally certain fragrances may affect people differently. While the aroma of red roses usually invokes feelings of love and romance, to someone else the scent is a reminder of the funeral spray over a grandfather’s casket.

Foods are a great trigger for nasal responses.  A freshly brewed pot of coffee, cookies right out of the oven, and a roasting turkey makes our mouth water. However, frying liver, the pungent odor of cauliflower or rutabagas, and sour milk usually sends me running the other way.

While our nasal cavity can bring in the sweetest of fragrances, it also can do the opposite.  The odor of a skunk is like no other smell. But the stench of a wet dog, old gym shoes, or a port-a-potty are also very hard to forget. The smell of burning oil, stale cigar smoke, and being caught behind a diesel bus also can assault our olfactory senses.  

If you grew up on a farm, your range of smells was different from the kids who lived in town. The upstairs of our barn had hay, straw, and an oats bin. Its mixture created an earthy bouquet of scents. Steaming silage carried its own distinctive smell. 

Of course, all farms had the stink of manure. If you were a real farm kid, you could distinguish between, pig, cow, and chicken manure just by the smell. But the negative smells were often offset by the smell of new mown hay, strawberries picked from the bushes, and apple blossoms.  

All in all, the nose is really amazing with the array of smells, aromas, fragrances, odors, and scents  it can distinguish. While some are pleasant and some are not, the wide variety of aromatic stimuli make our lives a little more interesting. So, no matter the size or shape, it still deserves its prominent place on our face. 

Did you Ever Wonder? - In the word ‘scent’ which letter is silent? S or C?

Photo:  I was thinking Ron Albright

 

Dodge County Independent

Dodge County Independent
Dodge County ADvantage
301 S. Mantorville Ave.
Plaza 57 • Suite 200
Kasson, MN 55944

Dodge County Printing
301 S. Mantorville Ave.
Plaza 57 • Suite 200
Kasson, MN 55944

507-634-7503
 
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