I repotted a few plants yesterday and then walked around the house like a crazy person, sniffing the air like a parched man drinks water, swooping down to the wet potting soil and damp pot itself. My all time favorite smell in the whole entire world is damp brick and soil and I’ve decided to repot the plants every week.
When I was pregnant, the craving to smell wet brick would sometimes get a little out of hand. For example, I once put a brick in a bowl of water and placed the bowl under my bed so I could smell it all night long. I sniffed and sniffed and then climbed out of bed to pull the bowl out and sniffed and sniffed some more. And then I fell asleep and dreamt about swimming in a pool made of bricks that smelled like heaven.
And then once? I licked it. Yes. I licked the wet brick because it smelled so awesome that my tongue wanted to play, too. And it tasted almost as good as it smelled and if it would have been possible, I might have taken a bite out of the brick. But I’m not crazy. At least not THAT crazy. Just crazy enough to imitate a snake and lick the brick, ok?
I realize that I may be missing some kind of mineral in my diet. I’ve heard of women eating soil and chalk when they are pregnant. That could have been me. But it wasn’t, ok? I ONLY LICKED IT.
My grandma told me about craving dirt when she was pregnant. I thought she was making it up. I think she said she especially craved “well water.” I’ve never drunk well water, so I don’t know if it has a particularly earthy taste.
OMGosh!! I am not alone!!! Someone else out there loves wet brick and dirt!
I find it sort of fascinating. Interesting information on ye olde Wikipedia: Geophagy and Pica (disorder).
We’ve talked pica before, but I’d not noticed the strong correlation between iron deficiency and the cravings.
Xo
Wet driftwood. Salty tang, sweet wood smell. It’s the only thing better than a spruce pillow.
When I want to eat dirt, which I sometimes do, a few steaks, some broccoli, spinach, and lots of chard usually does the trick. Beets, too, but I like them less.
I LOVE the smell of wet dirt. It’s especially good after a thunderstorm and I have no idea why. I often want to taste it but don’t. It’s almost like tasting it would ruin the deliciousness of the desire.
I’m pregnant and reading your post made me absolutely CRAVE wet brick. I don’t know if was just really well written or I’m lacking the mineral of which you speak. But mmmm….I wonder if I can find anyone who delivers wet brick at 8:15pm.
I’ve heard of pregnant women eating washing machine detergent. yuck!
Gosh, I wish I would’ve thought of wet brick when I was pregnant.
I ate play-doh when I was pregnant. It smelled so delicious…but the taste was not so good.
I wonder what I was lacking in my diet that caused me to want to eat blue play-doh?
i’ve never attempted the brick thing, but now i’m curious.
i like the way air conditioning smells (the freon perhaps?) and i like those clover things in the grass that are sour to the taste.
i ate a lot of ice when prego. i still eat ice, it’s the best.
Hm. I could not stand any smells at all when I was pregnant. I finally knew what it was like to be a bloodhound and it was too much for me.
For me it was new tires. If I could have gotten hold of a new tire when noone else was around I would have taken a bite. As it was I had to be satisfied with snifing them at Costco.
I completely understand this. Wet brick and dirt are wonderful smells.
I remember going out for dinner when I was a couple of months pregnant, and it was only half way through my delicious meal of double-think chocolate milkshake and garlic snails, thinking that this was the most fabulous combination ever stubbled upon, that I suddenly went “Gosh!” – this must be the ‘pregnant thing’ that people talk about.
I also couldn’t get enough of green tomatoes… The stores were all full of perfectly ripened red ones, but it was the crunchy unripe ones that I craved.
I love your new header.
I love this story. :-]
This is very interesting to me. I never craved anything unusual during pregnancy.
I love the header as usual.
I’m also an incredible wet brick licker- dirt eater kind of person. I’m not sure what all the mineral deficiencies are, but the ice crunching craving thing is almost ALWAYS an iron deficiency.