Follow Your Nose

Dear Nose,

Could I help you find a way to smell again? Is there something I can do? I tried blowing the stuff that seems clogged up there, but I think it has sealed itself tightly like crazy glue on two index fingers. It doesn't seem like I can get anything between it and the gentle wall of my nostrils.

Do you know of any way?

I tried nasal spray last night and it nearly burned you inside and tonight I tried some sinus medication that said it would relieve you. You seem like you aren't as angry, but you are still not letting air pass through. I don't know what that is about.

Do you feel like I don't appreciate you? Because I do. I really really do.

Especially with you being gone for so long.

Thank you for helping me taste things. I think I made the best plaintains ever and the best curry chicken ever this weekend, but I can only make those judgements based on my eyes. I want to thank you for helping me smell my son's poops so I didn't have to sacrifice my finger by plunging it forth into the back end of the diaper.

I didn't mean to take you for granted. Will you please come back to me so we can work together the way we used to. Remember the days when we would track down that sippy cup under the couch together? And when we would search out the stinky fish to keep Annie B away from (Annie B is the bestest dog ever)? Or what about when I would be like 2 days past a shower and be able to sniff myself out and know that it was SURELY time for a shower? Remember those times?

Maybe you will be back some day.

I miss you nose.

From,

Me

Consumption

What fuels you?

I know we get a ton of mixed messages about food all the time and it is so tough caring sometimes about what we put in our bodies. The only thing I know for sure is that when I eat whole foods that taste like the earth, my body feels good and my brain works.

Today I had two meals I hate to eat:

cream cheese bagel and lipid-filled hot cocoa from 7-11

and

fried plantain chips and yogurt-apple trail mix from my local vending machine.

Time flowed and I flowed with it, but I definitely did not feel as clear in mind as I usually do. I definitely responded to student questions lethargically and spun around 1 too many times to place papers in piles they didn't need to be in. I definitely blurted things out in conversation that probably should have been held in my mind.

But instead, I chose to eat what I ate and therefore chose to be less than myself.

I like the days I eat things like I did tonight:

delicious Israeli couscous with sweet, red peppers and garlic in a yummy yogurt sauce

and

fresh cantaloupe.

Maybe my brain will function better in my dreams tonight. And with a husband who knows when I need fresh foods and fridge replenished, I am in for a great (hopefully snow-filled) day tomorrow.