That "New" Car Smell

As I drove home from running errands yesterday, there was only one thought running through my head.

My car smells funny.

The reason for my car's not so usual smell can be traced back to two summers ago, and a coffee shop date with a friend of mine, Rebecca. As I ordered my usual, an espresso smoothie with cinnamon, Rebecca asked the barista if their frozen yogurt had corn syrup in it. As my friend had not previously been exceptionally interested in the corn content of her food, I had to ask her about it. 

"I'm allergic to corn." she confided. "Now I just make sure I don't have too much, and I feel a lot better"

Interesting.

Fast forward to this spring at a routine doctors appointment. I asked the doctor if she thought that food allergies might be the culprit behind my year-round sniffles. 

"Possibly" she said as she callously tossed a stapled stack of sheets my way. Thanks for the help, doc.

I took the diet/menu planner home, but things were busy, and they sat gathering dust. All through the holidays I thought of it occasionally, but between all the get-togethers, eating out and generally strange schedule, it was not the time to start something new. That sort of thing, is a new years sort of thing.

And there I was, driving home with a car full of groceries, smelling a strange but familiar smell. The same scent that marks every health food store I've ever stepped in. I'm not even sure which of the myriad of unfamiliar ingredients which I had purchased that day gave off that particular aroma, but I was sure of one thing.

It was the smell of change.