Monday, January 21, 2008

Smells good............

Isn't it amazing the power of scent. How a smell can take you back to a moment in time, something you can't forget ever good or bad. I have an incredibly sensitive nose, I can smell things that most others can't. In fact when I was pregnant with Maddison, my mom had to move all the plants out of her house because I could smell the dirt. So while I think most people have this phenomenon, I think I am more prone to smells sparking memories. For example the towels in my mom's kitchen instantly takes me back to my grandma's house. I think because they always smell like homemade bread and while I don't actually remember my grandma making bread, her house always smelled that way. I'm sure someday when my mom is gone, I'll think of her as well when I smell that wonderful smell of homemade bread. Even bad smells, like today Andrew was starting a fire in the fireplace and it wouldn't go, so it had that bad burning smell and I thought of my brother's house burning down. But there are so many other things, the smell of Baby Magic lotion will always remind me of my babies, and there is nothing better than the smell of a newborn baby. There is a certain perfume that will always remind me of my sister, she used to wear Polo Ralph Lauren, and every time I smell it I think of her. There are other perfumes/colognes that spark memories, too. Cool Water will always remind me of my 7th grade boyfriend, Abercrombie & Fitch will always remind me of when Andrew and I started dating, although they don't make the exact kind anymore, which stinks. Anyway, we cleaned house today and Andrew mopped the floor, so the house smells so clean and it just got me to thinking of how strongly scent is linked to memories. I wonder what scent will remind my kids of me when I'm old. What's your favorite smells that bring back memories.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this. And I had to laugh because I was on the same wavelength a few months back and wrote about it in this post:
http://leighsteele.wordpress.com/2007/10/21/smells-like-teen-spirit/
I, too, am always shocked at the the powerful connection between smell and memory. I hadn't thought about the bad memories and smells before...hmmm, things to ponder.
I do enjoy the smell of "clean", too!
xoxo

L said...

I love it, yours is much better than mine.:)