Trader Joe's Meditation Upon A Cinnamon Broom

To understand the reference in the name of this unusual item, see here.

You might wonder why I bought this thing. So do I. All I can say is that I saw a display of them at the store and thought, "Well, that's different!"

Actually using this as a broom, as shown in the illustration on the wrapping, is an absurd proposition. The ultra-dry twigs (pine, I believe) crumble with the lightest touch. Try sweeping with it, and you'll leave behind a far bigger mess than you were trying to clean up.

So what do you do with it? I asked the cashier at TJ's that very question as she rang up the purchase. She said, "You can hang it on your door as a decoration."

Excellent idea--except for one thing. The smell is so strong that I find I can't bring myself to inflict it on my fellow apartment dwellers, which rules out putting it on the outside of the door (i.e., in the common area). On the inside of the door, I'm afraid it will make a horrendous mess as it falls apart with the movement of the door.

But I do enjoy the scent. As far as I can tell, however, it's not so much cinnamon as clove. Good thing I like both. (EDIT: Looking more closely at the list of ingredients, I see that TJ's is claiming it's nothing but pine and cinnamon. No cloves. Coulda fooled me.) You can't imagine how powerful the scent is from examining the item in the store, because it doesn't really let loose until you unwrap it. It's so strong that it had Nina's nose stuffed up and runny, and I had to banish it to a back bedroom for the duration of her visit. I let it out again after she left, on the grounds that overpowering cinnamon is better than Eau de Bachelor Pad avec Chat.

I just leave it standing in a corner, smelling nice. I had worried that the cat might shred it, but she keeps her distance. I imagine that the odor is completely repugnant to her super-sensitive sense of smell.

Will I buy it again? 

No. I satisfied my curiosity fully with one of them.

Nina's View

I think my nasal distress is a pretty good predictor of how I feel about this thing. I strongly prefer Eau de Bachelor et Chat. It doesn't even smell *real.* It smells artificially enhanced, somehow.

Hang it on your door one night for Halloween to scare away the trick-or-treaters, if you must. Then throw it away.