Reading the Wind

[ysabetwordsmith]

Terri Windling's syndicated feed has a delightful story about reading the scents in wind.  Go read it.

This is a gorgeous story. But I have to say ... I can read the wind. I can't read it as well as a dog, but much better than most humans. A lot of that is just plain practice: I've spent decades learning to read the wind with the nose that I have in this life. I know the smell of rain and snow and clear sunshine. I know the smell of plants beginning to grow in spring and ceasing to grow in autumn. I know the smell of a compost pile when it starts to work and when it is done working because it has become soil. I know the smell of cattle, swine, horses, skunks, bison, and many other animals. I can tell the difference between the smell of cherry blossoms, pear blossoms, crabapple blossoms. I can lean over food and taste it with my nose  nearly as well as with my tongue.

So I look at a story like this, and I'm not reading along with the human, I'm reading along with the dog.

The first of the Wind Stories is also online.  Golly gee whiz, that's why this lady is a mistress of mythology and folklore.

Comments

[puffbird.livejournal.com]

I identify with this. My "favorite season" is the transition between seasons, mostly because of the changes in smells.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I love that too, such a complexity of smells.

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

I can't read the wind too well, I never had a very good nose. But I enjoy smells, and one of the people sharing headspace with me, Negarahn, is a Duenicallo, and they can smell rather keenly. I actually have a better sense of smell when he's fronting. He and Pi both like to do the flehman response.

Interestingly, I am also physically stronger when Pi or Negarahn are fronting.

PS

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

Pi is also fond of scent.

Cool!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I do the flehmen too, along with various other scent-gathering gestures.

I think it's nifty that your traits shift depending on who fronts. My own personality is faceted rather than disjunct, but some of the effects are similar. There are things I do much better in certain modes than other modes, and being in the wrong mode can really mess me up.