Okay, so I'm making Thai food today and I open the gallon jug of coconut oil (yes, gallon. My husband got a really great deal - just ask him) and an overwhelming memory surged into my brain. The smell of the coconut took me back to Sandy Beach and The Steps. Two beaches near the river we frequented during high school. We'd lather on the Hawaiian Tropic, hoping it would give us a quicker and deeper tan. I don't think it did anything but exhaust our savings, but we sure smelled good!
Have you ever been some where and smelled something and an image pops into your head? I just visited my aunt this weekend and she gave me some old letters my sister sent her, and when I got home, I took them out of the folder and the odor was all Aunt Betty. I suddenly saw her bee-hive hair do with the two curls on the sides and every single perfectly-decorated room in her house. And the other day, I was just walking in a store and I walked passed a couple women, and I don't know, maybe it was their perfume, but instantly I was back in my grandma's house in the Black Hills of South Dakota. I had to smile, because I could just see her narrow hallway with the nic nacks on the walls, her beautiful flower garden, her happy face and the songs of Mary Poppins. And I must admit, I'm always on the look out for Old Spice cologne. Maybe the picture of my dad and his shaving kit in mom's lavender bathroom will come to mind. Or - maybe something else. I always think of the broken gingerbread cookies he brought home from the bakery when ever I smell cinnamon, sugar and ginger. I love that.
Funny how a certain smell stays with you and how it can conjure up memories just like that. I wonder what particular smells my children will recall when they grow old? Mold? Burnt pasta? Smoke from the time I left a dish towel on the stove - when the burner was still on?? !
Okay, some smells are better than others. Just like some memories . . .
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