Fragrancing, Deux

Just when you thought it was safe to buy a plug-in air freshener again...

This morning I mowed the path from our smaller camp to the road. The grass was pretty long, and what with it being July and all, I expected to encounter a bug or two.

So before heading out, I sprayed Deep Woods Off into my cupped palms and wiped it all over my face, neck, throat, ears, and hair. I then got another dose and wiped it down my forearms before putting my long-sleeved denim work shirt back on. I even sprayed some around my ankles on top of my socks, having learned the hard way that black flies consider fabric simply a really neat challenge to be overcome if the reward is an ankle to bite.

And then I wondered, why can't they make Off smell good?

It is the essence of summer, the ultimate in fragrancing. It lingers. Showers do not always conquer it, though sometimes I wonder whether I just think I still smell it--or, if I'm feeling less neurotic, I wonder if the scent is still somehow up my nose, though the rest of me is clean.

There's probably a real reason for making a bug repellant smell slightly, well, repellant. Like the fact that it has deadly active ingredients. You don't want to mistake it for a scent of choice, in much the same way you don't want to mistake a stash of Flintstone vitamins for a bag of candy.

But still, it would be nice to have it smell better. Maybe I'll get those experts in "fragrancing" to work on it right away.