Olfactory occurances........
Today my neighbor brought me a bouquet of flowers. He is the best at random acts of kindness. His male eye sees things that need to be done around my house that I am not even aware of. Take the falling off gutter for example. I wouldn't have noticed it was even hanging till it fell off and hit me on the head - he simply called a repair man and it was fixed before I even knew it was broken! He helps make my home ownership so much easier! But back to my flowers...
My kitchen now has a delightful scent of gardenia because he handed me a freshly cut batch of flowers straight from his gardenia bush. Every time I enter my kitchen I am transported back in time to my Grandmother's bathroom. I used to sit and watch her get ready and I think it was the soap in the dish that you couldn't touch that filled that room with this memorable scent. I am reminded of just how powerul the sense of smell is. It is actually one of the ways in which people learn. My nephew is an olfactory learner. He has been diagnosed with mild autisim and I believe it is one way his brain compensates and calculates things. He associates much of what he retains with how it smells. I watched him sniffing Webkinz in a store and was mesmorized by the action. What was his brain doing with that information? For him, did each one have a different scent? Instead of kissing my 97 year old grandmother, he smells her cheek. It may seem odd but it is truly a powerful act of love and learning.
I don't know all my scent memories at the moment but I do know that lilacs and lily-of-the-valley remind me of the springs I spent on the Old Mill Farm. I know that I smell a book before I start reading it. I know that the smell of a puppy and a baby remind me of life's precious beginnings. I know that the smell of burning tranmission fluid is the sign of a very bad thing. I know that Cody has associated a smell to our house and that it makes him feel safe and good inside. He has shared with me after a couple of our longer vacations that he misses our house and the way it smells. I know that every time I smell a certain cologne my heart still skips. What smells do you miss? When was the last time a smell transported your memory back to something meaningful, painful, beautiful....?
Today my neighbor brought me a bouquet of flowers. He is the best at random acts of kindness. His male eye sees things that need to be done around my house that I am not even aware of. Take the falling off gutter for example. I wouldn't have noticed it was even hanging till it fell off and hit me on the head - he simply called a repair man and it was fixed before I even knew it was broken! He helps make my home ownership so much easier! But back to my flowers...
My kitchen now has a delightful scent of gardenia because he handed me a freshly cut batch of flowers straight from his gardenia bush. Every time I enter my kitchen I am transported back in time to my Grandmother's bathroom. I used to sit and watch her get ready and I think it was the soap in the dish that you couldn't touch that filled that room with this memorable scent. I am reminded of just how powerul the sense of smell is. It is actually one of the ways in which people learn. My nephew is an olfactory learner. He has been diagnosed with mild autisim and I believe it is one way his brain compensates and calculates things. He associates much of what he retains with how it smells. I watched him sniffing Webkinz in a store and was mesmorized by the action. What was his brain doing with that information? For him, did each one have a different scent? Instead of kissing my 97 year old grandmother, he smells her cheek. It may seem odd but it is truly a powerful act of love and learning.
I don't know all my scent memories at the moment but I do know that lilacs and lily-of-the-valley remind me of the springs I spent on the Old Mill Farm. I know that I smell a book before I start reading it. I know that the smell of a puppy and a baby remind me of life's precious beginnings. I know that the smell of burning tranmission fluid is the sign of a very bad thing. I know that Cody has associated a smell to our house and that it makes him feel safe and good inside. He has shared with me after a couple of our longer vacations that he misses our house and the way it smells. I know that every time I smell a certain cologne my heart still skips. What smells do you miss? When was the last time a smell transported your memory back to something meaningful, painful, beautiful....?
Wait...you mean tranny fluid isn't supposed to smoke and burn? I thought that was normal. *goes to read the owner's manual yet AGAIN*
ReplyDeleteI love the smell of hot, fresh pizza from Pete's Patio in Niles. My parents and I used to order by phone, drive down there, pick it up, and park down at the dam on the north side of Niles. We'd eat, drink, and listen to the water crash down. I still go there, but nowhere near as often as I'd like because I live in Sturgis.
Chanel No. 5 and Coco Chanel are instant reminders of my wife, as they are her two favorite perfumes. *sighs dreamily* Wait...where was I? Oh...sorry...I'm back now.
Cloves trigger some serious memories of Virginia Beach...I used to smoke clove cigarettes when I was stationed in Norfolk, and the scent reminds me of many good times with friends. Long nights cruising the beachfront, messing with the tourists, avoiding the police, and just generally having a ball.
What many people call the smell of the ocean reminds me of both Virginia Beach and St. Joseph, and a LOT of good times in both places. That smell is actually the scent of where water and land meet...when you get out away from shore, there is very little scent.
In my case, it's sound and music that trigger memories more often than smells. No big surprise there...*chuckle*