My Three Favorite Scents

I feel I have a very strong sense of smell. This morning at home, I could directly smell a dead rat. Few nights before, when I was in front of my house, I suddenly smelled something like the smell of cow poop while, in fact, I don't have any neighbors who raise cows. My husband jokingly said that maybe there was a ghost passing by because he did not smell anything. A few days ago, while preparing some menus for suhoor, fishy smell of blood struck my nose while I was waking my husband up in our bedroom. Some other ghosts, maybe.☺I once also smelled some random dead animal in the office where I work. At that time, I was the only one who could smell that. When I asked some janitors to search for that smell, they finally found a dead lizard under a cardboard box. The staff sitting near that box amazingly did not smell that dead lizard.

Thanks to my ability to be very sensitive with disgusting odors because I can also feel grateful for my being able to detect nice scents. There are very many kinds of nice scents from flowers to freshly baked cookies. Who doesn't love those scents? Everyone loves them. But I have three favorite scents which I think some persons will love, too.

1. The earthy scent from the rain falling on dry soil

It's refreshingly surprising to know that I am not the only one who loves that scent. The first time I started to like this scent, when I was still young, I felt weird. I questioned myself, "Why do I like this strange smell?" It turns out that some people like to smell that, too. Therefore, when I miss that scent in dry season, I often water the dry soil in my yard just to get that scent.

2. The freshly cut grass

Either in rainy season or dry season, the scent of the grass right after being cut is always indescribably nice. I don't let my front yard be paved. I grow grass instead. It actually consumes much time and energy to cut those grasses with shears when they grow taller, but the nice scent is worth the price. 

3. The brewing coffee in the morning

My morning routine is to drink coffee. I like drinking coffee because I fall in love with the scent of the coffee when the hot water is poured into the cup or mug. And that must be in the morning. When I smell the brewing coffee in the evening, for example, it doesn't smell as special as the morning coffee. Perhaps because I really need to open my eyes to start the day. And the brewing coffee scent can always wake me up.

Pesona Ponorogo

Kota Ponorogo, yang sangat terkenal budayanya, memang selalu menarik hati saya. Selalu ada yang membuat hati saya tergerak untuk lebih mencintai kota kelahiran saya itu. Setiap kali saya melintasi kota itu, selalu ada keinginan untuk berkunjung atau sekedar melewati daerah tempat tinggal saya ketika saya masih sangat kecil. 

Saya tidak akan menuliskan tentang kota Ponorogo secara detail, karena itu bisa dibaca di halaman Wikipedia, ataupun dari media sosial yang berkaitan dengan Ponorogo. Saya hanya akan menceritakan beberapa kenangan yang membuat saya merasa mempunyai hubungan emosional dengan kota ini.

Saat saya masih berumur sekitar 4 tahun, ingatan saya lekat pada saat saya diajak ayah saya mengunjungi telaga Ngebel (objek wisata kebanggaan kota Ponorogo). Dengan mengendarai motor tua, saya duduk di depan, sementara di tempat duduk belakang digunakan untuk membawa durian. Saat motor sudah mendekati telaga, saya ingat saya saat itu sampai ternganga ketika melihat telaga Ngebel. Begitu menakjubkan. Begitu berkabut. Begitu sunyi menenangkan. 

Kemudian saat saya menginjak pendidikan di sekolah menengah pertama, ada kenangan yang membuat saya terenyuh saat itu. Saya berada di bus rombongan study tour sekolah saya di Pacitan, kota kecil tetangga kota Ponorogo. Karena bus perlu beristirahat di area masjid kota dekat alun-alun Ponorogo, kami pun beristirahat sejenak. Beberapa teman saya ada yang bermain di area alun-alun. Saya hanya duduk di dalam bus sambil melihat polah tingkah teman-teman saya. Ketika bus mau berangkat lagi, tiba-tiba saya terisak diam-diam. Saat itu saya mungkin terlalu melankolis karena mau mengucapkan selamat tinggal pada kota kelahiran saya.

Menginjak dewasa, saat saya masih belum menikah, saya sering pulang kampung berkendara roda dua sendirian dari Madiun ke Pacitan. Ada satu kenangan misterius saat saya dalam perjalanan pulang ke Pacitan. Saat itu, saya berangkat dari Madiun tepat sehabis Shubuh, sehingga hawa pagi masih sangat dingin. Namun anehnya, ketika sudah melewati batas Madiun-Ponorogo (tepatnya di daerah Mlilir), hawa mendadak menjadi hangat, padahal saat itu belum melewati jam 5 pagi. Hawa hangat itu terus saya rasakan selama saya mengendarai motor saya hingga mencapai jembatan setelah Ponpes Gontor Putra. Setelah melewati jembatan itu, hawa dingin mulai menyerang lagi sampai saya tiba di Pacitan.

Dan di Ponorogo lah saya pernah mengalami kecelakaan terparah, yang terjadi pada sore hari di hari pertama Lebaran beberapa tahun yang lalu. Walaupun parah, saya dan suami saya masih beruntung karena banyak yang memberi pertolongan, dan masih tetap bisa melanjutkan perjalanan motor menuju Madiun. Sampai sekarang, setiap kali melewati jalanan lurus itu, tingkat konsentrasi selalu mendadak meningkat drastis.

Di balik keunikan Ponorogo yang memiliki budaya Reog yang penuh misteri dan yang merupakan kota kecil dengan pendidikan pesantren yang paling mumpuni, selalu ada kenangan yang tidak pernah saya hilangkan dari benak saya. Bertumbuh dari lahir sampai dengan saat saya berumur 6 tahun sudah cukup bagi saya yang sudah selama 42 tahun mengenyam hidup ini untuk selalu mengenang pesona kota ini.

                                                                      

Two Lessons I Get from Wearing A Mask

Before the pandemic, I wore a mask when I rode my motorcycle, having a long trip, to protect me from dirty air and strong wind. And right now, because of the pandemic, I have to always wear it, especially when seen in public. Aside from the reason to follow the health protocol, I do that since I have to be obedient to the government. It's always a torture for me to wear a mask when I need to be clear about things I say. Or, it's also a torture to try to understand what other people say while they are wearing a mask.

It's been more than a year for us to not forget to wear a mask. Some people say they are comfortable wearing it; some others still struggle to get used to wearing a mask. For me, either it is a year or forever, this due-to-pandemic habit will always make me in despair. Breathing is one problem. Not revealing our true whole face is another problem.

However, thanks to the pandemic, I get some important things that I can learn from this mask wearing thing. The thing about keeping healthy is just nonsense for me. How can I keep my health if one important thing for my health, the oxygen, is blocked by a mask? Those important things I get is all about life learning.

Firstly, I need to realize that not being myself (or with the mask on) must require much energy. It is always tiring for me when I have to cover half of my face to meet other people and to talk with them. In life, when I am with people, I have to hide my true self. It's not about being untrue to myself; it's only for the sake of successful communication. Then, in the end, I feel fatigued. Perhaps, other type of people will, instead, feel energized after having spent so much time communicating with people. But not me. With my nose and mouth blocked by a mask while trying to succeed a communication, it is certainly energy-draining for me. 

Another thing I learn from wearing a mask is about getting the true freedom when I become myself; in other words, I feel totally free when without a mask. I can be so much free, being the real me, when there's no one around me. With the use of mask, I can be very thankful for the chance of experiencing how terribly hard it is to block a precious thing, the oxygen, coming into my body.