One thing people miss out on when commuting by car is the smell. In a car, when there is an odor in the air, it is generally something bad. Something like burning oil, melting belts, or even skunks.
Riding your bike isn't always much better. Riding over the Spokane Street Bridge across the Duwamish I often get a whiff of something that smells like molding pork fat. I also get my fair share of diesel fumes and car exhaust.
On a good day though my olfactory sense is given a wonderful reward. Sometimes by and actual old factory. A smell of cooking steel often emanates from the Nucor Steel plant. Some mornings Harbor Island has a pleasant molasses smell. The old Hostess plant would also smell amazing right around 2:00 AM.
This is one of the things people miss when they drive. Cars have a way of separating people, both physically and mentally, from the world in which they live. It is something that diminishes the community as a whole. So if you get a chance when you are out in the city, take the opportunity to give it a whiff.
-Dravis
Riding your bike isn't always much better. Riding over the Spokane Street Bridge across the Duwamish I often get a whiff of something that smells like molding pork fat. I also get my fair share of diesel fumes and car exhaust.
On a good day though my olfactory sense is given a wonderful reward. Sometimes by and actual old factory. A smell of cooking steel often emanates from the Nucor Steel plant. Some mornings Harbor Island has a pleasant molasses smell. The old Hostess plant would also smell amazing right around 2:00 AM.
This is one of the things people miss when they drive. Cars have a way of separating people, both physically and mentally, from the world in which they live. It is something that diminishes the community as a whole. So if you get a chance when you are out in the city, take the opportunity to give it a whiff.
-Dravis
I always thought the Spokane St Bridge smell was more like sulfurous farts mixed with baby diaper. But that's just me. ;)
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