The hottest I’ve been on Earth was in Tucson, Arizona, one July, long ago. My partner and I were driving from Virginia to Los Angeles, and one day, near the end of our journey, we stopped for gasoline and lunch in Tucson. Nearing the city, the car’s air conditioning was overwhelmed; the inside of the car became stuffy, warm like an…oven. Perspiration dripped from my nose. When we stepped outside the car, we were stupefied and in the dry heat all sweat evaporated. The air was as still as the inside of a tomb (and speaking of tombs, Tombstone, Arizona, was just an hour’s drive south). Heat, visible waves of it, attacked us from all directions: below, above, sideways. We were in Hell’s reception room: 113 degrees Fahrenheit. All we needed to complete the scene was the sound of a rattlesnake’s tail in full swing…
More than 60 incense burners and 60 kilograms of oud daily
The Kaaba and Grand Mosque are fragranced with the finest types of Oud such as Oud Sioufi, Clementan incense, and Maruki Double Super incenses. It also fumigates the Grand Mosque with more than 60 incense burners and 60 kilograms of oud daily.
— Read more in Ramadan 2021: The Kaba and Grand Mosque are being fragranced with 60 kg of Oud 10 times a day at Mashable Middle East.
The daily lemming
Yes, please! A Nippon Kodo iron incense burner shaped like an owl: "The owl was treated as a symbol of the intellect and art in the West. And the meaning of Chinese character (Owl) is "Keep the happiness". Good for a stick or a cone." $90 at Luckyscent, hat tip to Kevin!
Earliest and sweetest memories
Some of my earliest and sweetest memories involve sitting on the sofa in my best outfit, alongside my siblings in a tidy living room, uunsi [frankincense] burning in the background, waiting for our guests to arrive. When uunsi burned it was a warning of sorts: The meal was made, the guests were on their way, the day had begun, and, sometimes, mamo was going to a wedding.
— Read more in The Scent That Takes Me Back Home, Wherever I Am at Architectural Digest. Hat tip to Kevin!
The daily lemming
From Bradley Mountain, Among the Pines Incense Cones. "Among the Pines incense cones brings a fresh forest smell to your home or cabin. Burn these cones when you want to be taken back to your last camping trip." With cedar, moss and pine, 20 cones for $18 at Beautyhabit.