I was taking a shower yesterday when a scent filled my nose. It was an odd yet familiar smell, a bit like gunpowder wafting from the barrel of a gun. It wasn’t something that I had anticipated and I don’t know where it came from but I was suddenly reminded of TV John McKeever, a character from the BBC series Hamish MacBeth that ran several years back. That’s him in the photo. The show was the story of a quirky,small Scottish village and its constable, Hamish MacBeth (played by Robert Carlyle.) It reminded me of a Highland version of Northern Exposure except that it had more drama and mystery, a whodunit with a bit of humor.
One of the main characters was TV John McKeever, so named for having been the first in town with a TV, who was more or less MacBeth’s deputy. He was a tall, mysterious character with a bit of clairvoyance. He had experienced a premonition of his own death and knew that his death would be imminent when he would smell a particular scent of pomade, which is a hair gel of sorts. Think of the Dapper Dan cans in O Brother Where Art Thou? This was a recurring plot point in the series.
So there I was in the shower, thinking of TV John and the smell of pomade that would be to him the smell of death, and I began to wonder, “What if this scent I now smelled was my smell of pomade?”
What if today were to be my last day on this earth? How would I live it? If I were able to scan back through this last day, as though the day were a movie viewed through my eyes, what would I see? Would today be a good day to carry with me as my last day, filled with images that meant something to me?
All this was within a flash of seconds and I found myself realizing that I was taking so much for granted around me. I was not stopping, if only for a moment, to take in the way things really appear around me. To take in the grandeur of the trees of the forest that I walked through every day. To look up at the stars on a cold autumn night and see the way the stars and planets change position in the sky. To see how a squirrel races through the limbs of the hickories around my house.
Simple things. Things that I simply forget to take notice of on a regular basis. But things that give texture and depth to my life, things of which I would want to take notice on that day when the smell of pomade wafted into my nostrils…
Redtree Times 
I love your writing, with its rich descriptions. The television show sounds interesting. Isn’t it amazing how closely scent brings us to our deepest selves and memories?
Perhaps not always in your conscious thoughts, but certainly in your art your appreciation of nature and emotion and relationships is evident.
Speaking of the sky, while enjoying Jupiter in the evening all summer & fall, I’ve missed Venus. Hadn’t seen her in awhile. However, the last week or saw I spotted Venus 3 different mornings rising above the sun while I was walking my dog. Such a blessing!
Peace!