The Smell Of Flowers

Greetings, Ranchero76, and a belated 'welcome to YGS.'

First, I'd like to note that Rook's research was exemplary! I think he outdid himself this time!

Second, I'd like to congratulate you on your clear, unembellished writing style. There is no attempt to over-hype your experience, just a recounting of the data; a refreshing approach for a first-time poster. This has gone into my 'favorites' file.

While it is nice that everyone who'd encountered the spirit has nicknamed her "Rose," you only specify the scent of "flowers." Are you able to recognise different floral scents? (My dad, a mechanic and a smoker, cannot really distinguish between subtle scents, only strong ones like 'marigold' and 'hyacinth.') Was the floral scent, in fact, a rose-scented perfume? If you've got a public rose garden near you, you could go and walk through it to see if it smells like the scent. You won't necessarily remember exactly what it smelled like until you smell it again; however, scents are strongly tied to memories, and just the right scent will trigger a clear mental image. If nothing in the rose garden stimulates your memory, you may wish to browse a florist's shop, using the pretext of seeking a present for your wife/girlfriend, "I'd recognise the smell, but I have no clue what it looked like..."

Just a thought to help you clarify your recall of the events, to see if that triggers a new line of research.

Best,
Biblio.

Hi Ranchero,

It is quite common to smell flowers or perfume when a female presence is around, and with a male presence it usually comes in the form of cigar or cigarette smoke or cologne, so I'm pretty sure that's what you experienced ESPECIALLY if it comes and goes quickly and there is no other explainable source. God bless!

Phantom smells - not really all that unusual. Although it can drive you a bit crazy 😉. Unfortunately, sometimes a ghostie's real name is lost to us. 'Rose' could have been some nickname after the flower smell. Because this was offered to you by several different folks, I think it's fairly safe to say you aren't the only one who experienced her. At least it was a nice smell.

Thank you for the research 'grant' (LoL) here is the Basic Information I was able to discover about the area in question...


"The town of Sprinkle was founded in 1881 by Captain Erasmus Frederick Sprinkle, who came from Virginia with his widowed daughter Cremora Barr and her four children. The family bought 223 acres of rolling blackland prairie in northeastern Travis County, in the valley of Big Walnut Creek. It was Sprinkle's ambitious and business-minded grandson, William Braxton Barr, who gets the credit for building the family businesses on family property into a town that served as a trading center for the surrounding countryside.

Today, virtually the only remnants of the Sprinkle community in northeast Travis County are the renovated Barr mansion and the name "Sprinkle Road." Sprinkle served the surrounding areas as a trading center and cotton processing station from the mid-1880s to the 1920s, largely because of the efforts of the Sprinkles and the Barrs.
Captain Sprinkle died in 1906 at the age of 93. His death, following so soon after Barr's early death in 1903, marked the beginning of the decline of the town of Sprinkle. The town also suffered the loss of young men and women to a typhoid fever epidemic, and to World War I. The Great Depression also hurt the town, as did the drop in cotton prices during the war. After these events, fewer residents and fewer economic reasons remained for the existence of the town. Buildings were gradually torn down, and today the only recognizable landmark in Sprinkle is the Barr Mansion, which may be rented for special events."

(Http://www.austinlibrary.com/ahc/outside/sprinkle.htm)

"Although the town was active from 1870-1910, only one house remains, which is open by rental for weddings and events, Pioneer Farms, 10621 Pioneer farms Road has a recreated town center and is currently open Fridays and Sundays, active living history programs." Submitted by: Robert Swim

(Http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/tx/sprinkle.html)

"Barr Mansion's deep Texas roots travel back to 1898, when cotton mogul William Braxton Barr and his wife Tillie Birdwell built this ornate Eastlake Victorian home in what was then Sprinkle, Texas."

(Http://barrmansion.com/about/)

So in about 40 years time the town went from Cotton Boom town to basically a Historic Foot note. Who knows though the smell you noticed may be tied to the Founder of Sprinkle, Tx or maybe the Barr family or any number of people who suffered during the typhoid epidemic. I do think its cooL they are building a living museum on Pioneer Farms Rd that features 'Life in Sprinkle'.

Oh on a side note these locations are with-in about a 3-5 mile radius of each other. Its about 1.5 miles to either the Barr Mansion or Pioneer Farms from where the O/P had his experience.

Respectfully,

Rook

I was in Austin for over 7 months last year, wish you'd posted this earlier! Would have made being there interesting--not sure if I would have gone there, but maybe drive past?:) Thanks for sharing.

Hay rook
It's closer to Cameron. If you tune off Cameron onto Ferguson and follow Ferguson past brown ln. You come to an s curve. When you go around the first curve the buildings are on the left. It's kind of on top of a little hill. You can find it pritty easily on google maps.
Just to clarify turning west off of Cameron onto Ferguson.
I have herd stories about the Barr mansion. Its on sprinkle rd, Cameron rd. And Springdale. They all meet at a triangle. It's not far away from there.
I don't know if something there could be related or not. If you find out something please let me know. I have become very interested in the past couple years.

Ranchero,

Not sure if you are still following this but is the building still standing? You mentioned it was off Ferguson Rd... Was it closer to Cameron or Springdale?

I ask because I'm kind of local (Taylor) and your experience has made me curious as to the History in that area.

Respectfully,

Rook

Back then the building was about a year old. It's a metal building. There is wood used for the walls for the bathroom. The office was sheet rock. The thing is I never smelt it before or after that night. Could it have been something else? Sure. I use to be in the coast guard then became a mechanic. I by nature always look for the smoking gun. I simply have no explanation for that one. As far as being scared. I wasn't really scared that night. It was more like I'm alone and things are getting a little weird.
I no longer work there not because of ghost but the company went under in 2003. I have made half hearted attempts to find out the history but got no were. Life moved on and I almost forgot about it.
Thanks for reading

Hello Ranchero,
Enjoyed the story.
I agree with Rookdigyn that smells can embed in woods and get released when conditions are right. Especially humidity.
That said. Smells are the most common way that people experience the presence of a spirit. I have had it happen to me. So has my wife.
Just so you know what is really happening is the spirit is sending out the memory of the smell and you tune into it.
Also, it may be hard but don't be afraid. Try and remember a ghost is not some scary thing but a person. A person who no longer has a body and communicates as best it can. If the person were alive you wouldn't be afraid of them so there is no reason to be afraid of them after they lose their body.
Again, thanks for the story.
Randy

Not to diminish from the experience but smells can become embeded in wood and when the temp and humidity are just so... The oder can be released.

Had the garage always been a garage? What is the history of the property? Always good to know if a haunting is suspected.

Thanks for sharing.

Respectfully,

Rook

Ranchero--Although not as commonly reported as visual apparitions, there are many excellent reports collected by groups like the Society of Psychical Research that reveal ghosts can, essentially, mimic all the senses of a living human being. Usually one or sometimes two senses simultaneously.

For instance, a person may see and hear a ghost. Another person may see and then feel the touch of an apparition and, though there are fewer reported cases, another may smell the scent of flowers, perfume, a cigar (whatever really), which is an apparitional scent.

My wife and I experienced an apparitional scent of a freshly snuffed candle while investigating the second floor office area of a well known haunted restaurant in the mid 1990s. You really have nothing to be fearful of at all. Just think of what you experienced as a subtle visit.

Hi Ranchero,
I agree, when smelling something like that, it is extremely puzzling, especially if you have no "point of reference". I don't think you have anything to fear though.
I have smelled so many pleasant dissociated, or disembodied perfumes in my life that I have lost count. In my case, I now associate these fleeting smells with people from my past.

In my humble opinion, I don't think these spirits are trapped, or earth-bound, rather that they are paying a brief visit.

In your case, you may have encountered a residual haunt. If you can remember that date on which your experience happened, ask around if that date was pertinent to anything relating to Rose. Maybe she just dropped by to let you know she approved of what you were doing.

I do not recall ever reading of an unpleasant incident occurring where pleasant smell was involved. Be not afraid, embrace your brush with the supernatural. Yours was of the 'gentle' sort.

Thank you for sharing, and welcome to YGS.

Thankfully it did not result in any kind of physical or mental (emotional) harm to you.

However, if this is a frequent occurrence, then some thing should be done about it. We call it mukti in our language. Meaning freedom/liberation. A soul's rightful place is not among human beings. If it happens, that the soul is among human beings, then that soul has not been liberated yet. Do something to liberate it. I am sure every culture has a method of liberating souls. Try and see if you could do that. Doing right, is always difficult in the beginning, but a bliss always.