Something Doesn’t Smell Right

I sniffed, expecting to enjoy the aroma the sautéed onions should have been wafting through my culinary oasis, but nothing. Uneasy, I ran to the pantry and took out the ginger, coffee, and cinnamon sticks, confident that this was only a blip on my radar of concern. Nada.

I didn’t need a rapid test swab to know I had COVID.

It seemed like a mild case, but being in quarantine was nothing compared to losing my sense of smell. This was definitely going to complicate my life. It felt like someone pressed the mute button on my nose. I was the designated smeller in the family; I could smell a moldy ceiling in the bathroom or less-than-fresh-bottle of orange juice from miles away. Who would remind everyone that the garbage wouldn’t take out itself? Who would alert the others if a fire broke out? My first ten minutes after the realization hit were terrifying.

“Who’s going to make sure the milk isn’t spoiled, Ema?” my kids pondered. But the kids’ breakfast was the least of my problems. My sense of taste was gone, too. Would the customers who bought our soups have to rely on my taste-impaired palate? And wait, I’m a food writer and submit original recipes to Family Table! Argh. (Thank goodness we worked on the Succos supplement way before any of this happened.)