~9~ Hanninen:
a.
I’ll give you a subject.
You tell me what scent/odor you associate with it—
The most recent holiday?
Kitty Jospé: Bayberry candles; cinnamon; plum. Heaton: Nutmeg. Owens: The playful flirtation of citrus and oak. A stout, homemade Old Fashioned is what I associate with this past Christmas. And then, after that, another Old Fashioned. Jones IV: Cedar; my parents use a cedar tree in lieu of a more traditional fur or pine; the smell is quite distinct. Carr: For New Year’s Eve, I bought a bottle of wine in conjunction with a fundraiser for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The wine was called “Cat’s Pee on a Gooseberry Bush,” but it had a delicate, citrus, herbal aroma contrary to what its name would suggest. Reilly: I spent Christmas in Puerto Rico, so I associate the holiday now with the smell of bioluminescent algae, rum, and SPF-50 sunscreen (I'm very fair-skinned). Danielle Blasko: Pizza. J. S. Watts: The thick scent of heavy red wine. Davies: Sheep's wool, damply snagged on barbed wire on the mountainside. Lockie: Popcorn on New Year's Eve.
b.
The last thing you opened, unlocked, or unwrapped?
Jospé: Coffee! Heaton: The smell of new running shoes. Owens: My locker at 24-Hour Fitness. The scent is chlorine. I’ve started changing in the unisex bathroom because of the 60-year-old man who stares at me while executing lewd stretches at the edge of the pool as I swim laps. He wears a Speedo® and turbans a towel around his head. Jones IV: Dust; it was an old book of Mary Oliver poems. What a wonderful gift! Carr: My husband accidentally left his car on after taking groceries into the house from our attached garage. (The engine is very quiet.) Seven hours later and half a tank of gas less, I opened the garage door to the smell of car exhaust. Reilly: I unlocked my password-protected novel on Google Docs and smelled secrets. Watts: Sweet, rich, strawberry. Davies: Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter! I'm such a big girl (with dry fingers). Lockie: My house and the pine scent my housecleaner uses.
c.
Your favorite place to write?
Jospé: Dog: my beagle catches smells from outside: Heaton: Car fumes.
an animal-earthy smell.