Smells & Memories

[IFjane]

I recently have gotten interested in birdwatching, which has led to trying to learn bird songs.

The bird song was that of a Wood Thrush. I didn't know it when I was younger, but a Wood Thrush always sang outside my grandmother's house. She was an avid birdwatcher and so knowledgeable about all sorts of natural things. I felt like my grandmother had visited me when I heard that song on the CD. She died a couple of years ago.

I was visiting my father last week and heard a Wood Thrush outside his house. I've never heard one there before. Strange.

Tulip - come up to Moonshine Mtn. and sit on my deck - the wood thrush will wake you up in the morning and put you to sleep at night...it's such a pure sound! As Thoreau said, "Whenever a man hears it he is young, and Nature is in her spring..."

I love the wood thrush. My lifelong best friend had a similar experience when she visited me 3 years ago (she lives deep in the Rockies in CO); we were on the deck and a wood thrush was singing. My gf stopped & said, "is that a wood thrush? I remember them from when we were little!"

[Aggie_Ama]

My Nanny smokes a lot and wears Beautiful by Estee Lauder which combine for a distinct smell. Our former receptionist also smoked (same brand) and wore Beautiful, every morning I thought my Nanny was in the office.

Nanny recently moved to assisted living and I inherited china and dining room furniture. Her cleaning products combined with the smoke in her house to make a unique smell. I despise the smell of smoke but right now the furniture in my garage waiting to be cleaned professionally is a comforting smell. It reminds me of her and my late Pawpaw. I am instantly back playing dominoes with them or watching Golden Girls and Newhart with Nanny.

Rosemary bushes reminds me of a Lowe's store. I worked through college at Lowe's and when we sold rosemary it over powered the store. We met some of our best friends there so it is a happy memory.

This isn't a smell but Doves singing remind me of spending the night at my Mammaw's as a kid. She has never had air conditioning so every morning the windows would be open and the birds singing.

[Wahine]

Smell is a very strong stimulus and is the sense most closely connected to our cortex and memories. Babies can recognize the smell of their mother about 2 months before they can recognize them by sight.

When I moved to the Columbia River Gorge, it was a bit like going home.My
Grandparents lived in a continuation of this valley north of the border and the smells here always remind me of my happiest times as a child. Smell is a very strong thing.

[jesvetmed]

For me, it's Pierre Cardin cologne. It was my dad's favorite. Every now and then I'll be walking along, and just stop dead in my tracks and smile.

I like what Velobambina said about their ghost dropping in for a visit -- nice thought.

I'm going to work on getting my dog to run through the lavender out back... maybe I'll have to put them in front of the sliding glass door so she has no choice!

[Duck on Wheels]

Oddly, I have a nostalgic thing about the smell of skunk ... briefly and faintly when driving by in a car, that is. NOT that dead skunk that was upwind of us for over a mile on the Cinderella 30th anniversary ride!

[SouthernBelle]

The peculiar mix of muddy lake and gas products (from the boat) reminds me of camping at the lake as a child.

The smell of fresh cut wild onions always makes me think of summer.

Cigarette smoke of various family members.

White Showers perfume- my great grandmother.

When I was a teen, I would give my Papa a cologne called "Pub". I still have his empty last bottle, but the smell is long gone out of it. I would buy a bottle of it if I found it just for that smell.