The Scents of Spring

It's April, and spring is in the air. Or...

• Last Friday there was a grim, decaying odor in the main portion of Turrets, the building where my office is and where I teach. Apparently there was a mishap with the beetle box. What's a beetle box? It's, well, a box full of beetles into which animal carcasses are placed. The beetles then eat the flesh, leaving behind bones. And I guess bones are good for science or taxidermy or Halloween costumes or something. Someone put a raccoon in the beetle box, and then put the beetle box a little too close to the furnace, and so the grim decaying odors made it into the ventilation system. Fantastic.
  
• Twice last week there was a bizarre smell in the sink near my office. Half of the smell was coffee, but the other half was tough to describe. Maybe macaroni-and-cheese flavored coffee? I suspect that someone in the business office has been experimenting with coffee flavors.
  
• Saturday morning in our house it smelled like someone had been burning incense. It was very odd. Neither Doreen nor I could figure out what it was. Fortunately, it only lasted around 45 minutes. I'm not at all a fan of incense. It was kinda Sandalwood-esque, and I don't like Sandalwood. Bizarre, and a little bit spooky.