A sticky reminder about the dangers of losing your sense of smell

Many years ago, I wrote a food column for our local newspaper. I called it “Cooking with the Seasons” and told people how to grow and cook with food from their gardens.

One year, my husband, John, said, “We should try tapping a few maple trees and making our own maple syrup, and you can write about it!” Our daughters were quite young then, about 6 and 8 years old, so they were very enthusiastic. We bought used buckets and spiles and tapped five of our maple trees.

Do you know the process of making maple syrup? There is a reason why most people aren’t making it in their home kitchens. You need 40 liters of sap to make 1 liter of syrup. Picture this: a big pot boiling on your kitchen stove for days on end (you’d be surprised how much sap five trees yield). Your kitchen is a hot, steamy, and sticky zone. We don’t have wallpaper on our walls, but I’ve heard stories of people’s wallpaper peeling off. Yes, it is that steamy.

Anyway, we started doing this many years ago, and still do it every year. It’s a tradition that yields a lot of sweet joy, so it’s hard to stop. What I’m trying to say is that I have a love-hate relationship with maple syrup season.

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As most of my regular readers know, I no longer have a sense of smell due to Parkinson’s disease. Every once in a while, I’ll get a breakthrough scent, but mostly, when I sniff the air, I get nothing.

This year isn’t working out as well as other years for maple syrup. You need warm days but cold nights for the sap to flow, and we’ve had either too-cold days or too-warm nights. The sap we’ve gathered has been prized, but so far, we’ve only made about 12 cups of hard-won syrup.

So, a few nights ago, we had a big pot of sap on the stove. We’d finished supper, and the sap looked like it had another hour or two of boiling to do. It has to reach 219 F, and it was only at 212. You’d be amazed at how long those last few degrees take to reach.

I settled in to watch a show (“Young Sherlock”). From where I was sitting, I had a clear view of my kitchen and the pot on the stove. I turned on the television, and John promptly fell asleep. I was engrossed in the show, and just as one character was about to kill another, John woke up and said, “MAPLE SYRUP!” I turned my head to look at my excellent view of the kitchen, too late to stop our big pot of maple syrup from boiling over. It was 221 F when we measured it moments later.

John had smelled the burning syrup on the burner, which is what woke him up. I had smelled nothing. Not only that, I had completely forgotten about the syrup. Yes, “Young Sherlock” was that good!

What a mess to clean up! It was one of those messes that makes you wonder if moving would be easier.

Recently, in an effort to count my blessings, I’ve been quite dismissive of my loss of smell — like, what’s the big deal? I can live without it. Obviously, I can, but geez, this could’ve been much worse.

Not having a sense of smell in a situation like this could actually be dangerous. What if I had been alone and didn’t notice the burning maple syrup until flames were licking our ceiling?

Losing your sense of smell can make some situations really challenging. People without this sense can’t smell smoke, natural gas leaks, or toxic fumes. They are at a higher risk of food poisoning.

Loss of smell is often accompanied by a diminished sense of taste, which can lead to weight loss and malnutrition as we lose our ability to enjoy food.

To stay safe without a sense of smell, installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors on every floor is critical. If you are concerned about a certain food being “off,” ask family members to sniff it before eating. This can help you feel more in control and less vulnerable.

For the past couple of years, John has been telling people he is my “smelling nose dog,” which we now know is not a joke.

Note: Parkinson’s News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Parkinson’s News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to Parkinson’s disease.