A story close to my heart. Sometimes Addicus and I would imagine silly situations that our family would find in years to come. Wafty Smells came from one such conversation about poor friends of our kids who were in for fun torture as they learned the super silly intricacies of our family. It was also written in a time when Poppa was immortal. Reading it now, that Poppa has passed through the gates of Valhalla, is hard. To know there are some things our kids and their friends will never get to experience now that Poppa is gone.
So we will read of what could have been, and I'm sure eventually we'll sprinkle in stories about what was. Through both, maybe our kids can feel closer to Poppa, until we're all together again.
Wafty Smells
For Poppa and Vicky
“Max! Come on! We’re going to be late for wafty smells if you don’t hurry.” hollered Icky from the bottom of the stairs. Icky (short for Icarus) was here to pick up Max. They were spending the weekend at Poppa and Vicky’s house, they’re Icky’s grandparents.
“I’m coming. Ya know! You could come help!” Max yelled down to Icky. So Icky ran up the stairs to help his friend. “What,” asked Max, “are wafty smells?”
“You. Will. See.” was the reply. Just the same answer Max had gotten all week, when he asked about wafty smells.
On the first day that Icky told Max that he was going with them to Poppa and Vicky’s, he said, “It’s the best there, there’s a huge trampoline that we’ll both fit on, a couple of dogs to play with and a whole room full of neat old toys and cool videos of cartoons that aren’t on TV anymore and Poppa will put them on in the morning while we eat cereal. But the best thing,” Icky continued, “is the wafty smells.” Icky gazed off into the sky, thinking about wafty smells. Max didn’t know what they were so he asked. That’s when this nonsense began. Max tried all day, but Icky always said the same thing. By the end of the day, Max was tired of “You’ll see” and tired of Icky. Max got home that day and started to tell his mom and dad why he was so mad at Icky. When he got to the wafty smells part, they exclaimed,
“We forgot about wafty smells!” Max looked at his parents,
“You know what wafty smells are?”
“Sure!” they replied. They told Max that they used to go to Poppa and Vicky’s and loved the wafty smells the best. Max was very excited! Finally someone would tell him what wafty smells were, so he asked.
“Mom, Dad, what are wafty smells?” And do you know what they said?
“You’ll see.” Max got so mad, he threw his hands in the air and announced,
“Well! I’m not going!” and went to his room. But everyone knew that wasn’t true. Max was mad, yes, but he was more curious about wafty smells and wanted to know why they were so great.
Icky came back down the stairs with a sleeping bag under his arm and Max right behind him. Max had two back packs on. One on his back and one on his front.
“Max, we’re only going for two days. What’s in all the bags?” asked Ickys’ Dad.
“Well, this one,” Max answered, pointing to the bag hanging in front of him, “is my clothes and toothbrush and clean socks. And this one,” he continued, turning a little so they could see the bag on his back, “is full of comic books for us to read in the trampoline tent.” Icky looked at Max and then to his Dad.
“Oh, yeah, Dad, can me and Max sleep in the trampoline tent?”
“That’s not up to me, that’s up to Poppa.” his Dad said. Icky leaned back and whispered to Max, “Then we’re definitely in.”
The car ride is long to Poppa and Vicky’s but that’s okay because they’re not in a hurry so they stopped whenever they wanted. First Ickys’ Dad had too much coffee and had to stop. Max and Icky got out to stretch while they waited. It had been raining and the moment they opened the door the smell of wet desert rushed in and everyone took a deep breath.
“Is that a wafty smell?” Max asked.
“The rain? No. But it is a pretty great smell.” replied Ickys’ mom.
“Hey rain-smellers! Let’s head out.” called his Dad as he came back from the restroom, “It’s good you stayed to smell the rain, because that bathroom was not pleasant.”
“That’s not a wafty smell, is it?” asked Max. Icky’s Dad laughed and said no. Max was relieved. After a while more of driving, Quinn, Icky’s dog was whining at the window. That only meant one thing,
“Quinn needs a potty break.” Icky told his parents. They stopped at the next rest stop and Max and Icky walked Quinn around a little bit.
“Oooo. Roses!” Hollered Icky. So they walked over to see the roses.
“They smell like heaven.” Ickys’ mom commented. Max and Icky bent to smell the roses. They did smell extra sweet.
“Is this a wafty smell?” Max asked with his nose still buried in the beautiful blooms. Icky looked at his mother, who said,
“Max, if you have to ask… then it’s probably not a wafty smell.” Max stared at her. He was very confused. Quinn pulled at her leash and Icky walked away. Ickys’ mom walked with Max and said,
“Max, don’t sweat it. When you smell a wafty smell, you’ll know.... You’ll just know.” She patted Max on the shoulder and called Quinn to the car. Quinn came running with Icky holding tight to her leash and running behind her to keep up.
They drove the rest of the way without stopping. Just before the tunnel though, they smelled something. It was sort of sweet, and sort of tasty, and sort of scary, all at the same time. As they drove through the tunnel, Ickys’ Dad honked the horn two times. Max asked Icky why his dad honked.
“For safe passage through the tunnel.” he answered. When they came out of the tunnel, it was obvious where the sweet smell was coming from.
“Looks like a control burn, guys.” said Ickys’ dad.
“What’s that, Dad?” Icky asked.
“It’s when they burn the plants and shrubs so the soil can start over and be fresh again. And so that it’s less likely to catch fire during the dry season.” he answered.
“Hey!” Icky yelled, “We passed the tunnel. We’re in Bisbee! Just a few more minutes to Papa and Vicky’s.” Max thought about asking if a control burn was a wafty smell but remembered what Ickys’ mom had said and decided that it’s probably wasn’t.
Only a few more minutes of driving and everyone started shouting ‘we’re here, we’re here!’ so Max shouted too. They unpacked the car and walked into the yard. Max had his back and front packs on, which made reaching the latch on the gate a bit hard.
“You must be Max!” shouted a voice from the front door, “Let me help you.” A not so tall mexican woman with dark brown hair came to the gate and opened it for him.
“We’re so glad you could join us this weekend, Max. I’m Vicky, Ickys’ grandmother. Icky, take Max to the bedroom and drop off your stuff, then you’d better head to the library. Poppa’s waiting.” Icky leaned over to Max and said,
“Poppa always tapes wrestling so we can watch it together.” Max smiled. As they stepped into the house Max took a breath so long and deep that he had to stop walking, when... **wham**.
“Oh, Max, are you alright hon?” Ickys’ mom had run right into him. Max turned to her and said “I don’t smell anything…” Ickys’ mom looked at him for a moment,
“Oh! You’re sniffing for wafty smells? You’ll see.” Max and Icky ran upstairs and threw their bags in the room. Then they almost tumbled back downstairs in their rush to get to Poppa. Icky stopped so suddenly at the bottom of the stairs that Max bumped right into him and they both went thump into the library door. The door was painted with a tree and people’s handprints were the leaves. “There’s mine.” Icky said and he pointed to a small hand marked ‘Icarus Rex’. Icky opened the door and ran and jumped onto someone's lap.
“Max, this is Poppa.” Icky said.
“Nice to meet you.” Max said softly as he shut the door behind him.
“Nice to meet you too, Max. Do you like wrestling?” Max and Icky shouted their agreement and Poppa turned on the T.V.
They had just settled in to watch a match between their favorite good guy and their favorite bad guy, when suddenly, just as Kevin Nash had Goldberg pinned to the floor… Max wifted something. He couldn’t be sure so he sniffed again.
“Wafty! Smells!” yelled Max as he jumped off the couch and headed for the door. Icky started laughing and ran to follow him. Max opened the door and all three of them took a very deep breath. Max followed the smell down the hall, through the living room, around the corner and into the kitchen. Vicky was standing over a large steaming pot. She looked up at Max and Icky as they slid around the corner. She smiled as Max took another deep breath,
“Wafty smells.” he proclaimed.
“Mexican Feet” Vicky said.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” asked Max, sure that he had heard wrong. Icky leaned over and spoke slowly,
“She said ‘Mexican Feast’ Max”
“Ohhhh!” Max exclaimed, That makes more sense.”
“What did you think I said?” asked Vicky. Max lowered his head, a little embarrassed,
“I thought you said ‘Mexican Feet’” Vicky laughed so hard that Poppa came to see if she was ok. Icky explained to Poppa what Vicky was laughing at and Poppa started too.
After setting the table and helping to get everyone’s drinks (that was Icky’s job, so Max helped), Poppa announced,
“Okay, everyone. Mexican Feet is ready!”
It was a delicious meal and Max had SO much fun with Ickys’ family, and SO much fun with Icky, his best friend.
Now every time someone asks Max what wafty smells are, he answers, ‘Mexican Feet’ and he and Icky laugh till their stomachs hurt.
ING
!jen
