Ahhhh, the Joyful Smells of Christmas

There are some smells that I absolutely love, especially this time of year. At Christmas time, things smell more festive and alive, and I always look forward to those smells.

I love the smell of the pine needles from a Christmas tree (even though I haven't had a real Christmas tree since I was 11). I love the smell of hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies. I love the smell of distant woodburning fireplaces and how it reminds me of simpler times (but don't ask me to give up my gas fireplace!). I love the smell in the air when it's getting ready to snow. I love the faint smell of scotch tape that lingers in the air after all the Christmas packages have been ripped into.

There are some winter morning smells that I love as well. I love the smell of that sort of crisp, still early morning air that you get before all the daily pollutants have gotten going (hey, you learn to appreciate the small things when you are angry for having to be up that early). I love the smell of coffee brewing, even though I hate the taste. I love the smell of freshly baked breakfast pastries, especially when one is in my hand waiting to be eaten.

There are some "people" smells that I even tend to really appreciate. I love the smell of a clean, well-groomed man. I love the smell of freshly washed hair. I love the smell of my own perfume.

Some smells that I do not love: unbathed men who clearly live INSIDE a woodburning stove (or burned their house down this morning)who consider Budweiser as their early morning "wake up" beverage of choice and whose body odor is so pungent that it has overpowered my freshly applied, meticulously selected perfume.

Oh yes, he was drunk off his ass.

As I drove Mr. Smokey Drunk to "work" this morning, some questions sprang to mind:

1. IS this person actually gainfully employed? (He's wearing your stereotypical "IT Guy" uniform of khaki chinos with a barely pressed dress shirt, but he could be heading into his "former job" to shoot up the place....who knows?)

2. Did this person sleep last night or is he returning to work after drinking at his holiday party all night and morning?

3. Is he really singing "Jingle Bells" in my car?

There are some mysteries that will never be solved.

Either way, he stumbled out of my car when I reached his destination, and I'm pretty sure he started singing "Silent Night" to the crowd at the crosswalk.

I might be wrong, and we'll never know, but I'm guessing that, if he did indeed have an employer this morning, he does not have an employer this afternoon.

As for me, I'm going to go back to enjoying the festive smells of Christmas, and I might even sing a few verses of "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" now that it's after 9AM.

So, Merry Christmas to All, and to him, a long bath!