Skin

Please pardon me this morning: I've lapsed into the dramatic and the poetic:

Skin

 I keep thinking about the way my family's skin smells, especially Bean, who I have more cause to be constantly snuggled up to than the others. Monster, for example, who smells faintly like some sun warmed wood, maybe sandalwood, and a hint of spice. Tilmani, who's personal scent while a bit like Monsters is more of an aged, sturdy forest with a touch of warm stone. His is particularly hard to describe. Bean smells like real Vanilla, and Cinnamon, just faintly for both, with an whiff of some more exotic aroma tickling around the edges, being impossible to name.

 People who aren't fans of kids are probably turning up their noses right now and declaring that babies and children smell like pee, poop, spit-up, and dirt... and they have times when they do, but those are all odors of incident. They aren't THEIR smell, just smells that happen to end up ON them, the way we create our own more 'notable' aromas by spritzing ourselves with perfume and cologne, deodorant, body wash and shampoo.

 That's what makes these subtle, personal skin smells so intimate. So personal. You have to be right there to catch it. You have to be in the throws of a really good hug, a snuggle on the couch with a little person leaning into you with their head on your shoulder. There's a bit of trust and closeness involved before you can pick up that faint, unique perfume.

 Maybe thats why it's so particularly comforting.