Something Smells

 Something Smells
Ever since I slipped and fell on the ice in 2015 I have had phantom smells. In the fall I hit my head and developed two bleeds in my brain. I was blessed that the only remaining side effects from the fall are phantom smells and an occasional inability to concentrate. The side effects could have ben so much worse. Some people with head injuries could suffer seizures, speech problems, problems with vision, or blindness to mention a few.
The phantom smells first appeared as car exhaust fumes or hot plastic. The smells of hot plastic still causes me to wander through my house to be sure nothing is about to catch fire. Since then I have had different odors tto join the parade; sometimes good aromas and other times not so nice.
Yesterday I began to notice a different smell. It was almost a stale piney smell and I have been trying to recognize the smell. When I woke this morning the odor was still there. It is the first time it has lingered so long. The strength of the smell didn’t fade at all. The aroma remained and didn’t diminish or go away. That puzzled me. I have never had an aroma linger for so long.
All morning I have srtruggled to recall if I had touched anything that had the same smell. I ran throuh a list of pine smelling products: house cleaners, tupentine, candles, or pine branches and came up with nothing.
It was then my nose started to run and I made the connection. I bought some Vicks VapoRub and used it on my neck. I saw a post that Vicks will help to relieve muscle pain and thoought I would try it. I’m not sure one application worked, but I had some of the ointment on my fingers and instead of wasating it, I applied to my nostrils to ease the congestion from my allergies.
So, I guess my phantom smells were fooled by the real thing.