Smells are a Strange Thing

A funny thing hit me today. You know, when an amazing smell overwhelms you and takes you right back to your childhood. I had this exact thing happen to me today. I had to run pick up lunch for the office. When I walked in this small meat/veggie cafe, I opened the door and I was carried back immediately to my childhood, walking in my Aunt Lorene's house, on Sunday after church. The smell, of her wonderful fried chicken on the stove and biscuits cooking in the oven. Today, that smell took me by such surprise, I found myself just standing there for a minute. What wonderful memories flooded my head. I told Martha, the hostess, I just had a childhood memory flood. I shared my precious memories with her (those of you who know me, know if I meet someone, I know their story and they know mine). We laughed about how smell triggers such wonderful memories. I gathered my paper bag of food and headed out the door, thanking Martha for the wonderful trip back to my childhood.

As I started driving back to the office, I happen to think of more smells that reminded me of childhood. List below
l) Mother's pineapple upside down cake cooking in the oven
2) The smell of rain early in the morning....always reminds me of picking morning glories as a
child.
3) The smell of the elementary school I attended. When you would go in the building in the
morning and smell fresh yeast rolls baking.
4) The tobacco odor from Grandpa Jess' pipe.
5) The smell of Camay soap.
6) The smell of fresh cut grass...loved walking in it.
7) The smell of leaves burning in the fall.
8) Noxzema
9) Cotton Candy and Candy Apples...remind me of the wonderful fairs that Dad and I attended.
10) Aquamarine Lotion that my sister, Helen, used daily.
11) The smells of a farm...like cow patties and chicken houses. These remind me of wonderful
summer days spent at my aunt and uncle's house in the summer.
12) The smell turkey cooking when waking up, as a child, on Thanksgiving morning.
13) The smell of vanilla...reminds me of those wonderful snow days and making snow-cream
with my Grandpa Jess.
14) Although I hated the job....the smell of clothes being taken off the line outside and the smell
of the fresh sheets on the bed.

However, there were smells as a child that were quite offensive. These follow:
1) The number one offensive smell to me as a child...was Dad's poached eggs cooking
in the morning. I thought this was the most horrible smell in the world.
2) The smell of Soltice rub.
3) The smell of the motor oil that my Dad used to start a fire in the old coal stove at the country
store he owned.
4) The smell of creases (creasy greens) cooking. You had to leave the house then.
5) The outhouse at my aunt and uncle's house.

It was a wonderful day. A day that has taken me back to some 40 to 45 years. So, in this fast paced rat race that we are in daily, take a few minutes to remember a more simpler time. A time when just the smell of fresh cut grass was something you took for granted. Maybe today, will be your lucky day and a whiff of something will remind you of your childhood. Give it some thought, you will be glad you did and who knows, it may just bring a smile to your face.