What do you smell??

"Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains; another, a moonlit beach; a third, a family dinner of pot roast and sweet potatoes during a myrtle-mad August in a Midwestern town. Smells detonate softly in our memory like poignant land mines hidden under the weedy mass of years. Hit a tripwire of smell and memories explode all at once. A complex vision leaps out of the undergrowth."
~Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses~


Isn't it crazy how a certain smell can flood your mind with thoughts and precious, sweet memories? Just the other day, I smelled apples & cinnamon that brought me back many years in my Grandma's kitchen as she made a delicious apple pie like no one else can!!
I smelled "Lucky You" cologne and was tossed back a few years, overcome with memories of my ex-boyfriend, who (if for no other reason) was placed in my life to get me through one of the most traumatic times in my life.
The smell of ink sends me to "Pilgrim's Press"...my Grandpa's printing press and the way it always smelled.
I can remember what Gramp smelled like when I would run up to him and give him a kiss JUST to hear him holler, "Woo!!" Which always left me in a fit of giggles, giving him another kiss just to hear him do once more before bed!!
Smells of certain candy send me racing to Aunt Mern's candy tin, lifting the lid to the ever familiar smell of delightful treats!
Certain strong glue smells put me back in the orthodontist chair as they glued the brackets to my teeth.


Memories are so incredibly powerful. Isn't it amazing that while memories can cause pain, sorrow, hurt, and sadness... yet at the same time have the power to nurture, soothe, and calm us??

What do you smell? What do you remember??