Mentor Texts with Lynne & Rose
  • Home
  • About Lynne & Rose
  • Our Books & Video
  • Grammar Matters
  • Presentations
  • Bookings
  • Blogging with Rose
  • Blogging with Lynne
  • Your Turn Lessons
  • Notebook Entries
  • Books Too Good to Miss
  • Endorsements
  • Links

Smelling Memories

10/6/2015

9 Comments

 
Picture
​And the air is what I’ll remember.
Even once we move to New York.
It always smelled like this, my mother says.
Wet grass and pine.
Like memory.
                                    -from Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
 
I love reading the comic section of the morning newspaper over coffee in the morning – that and completing the Jumble are part of my daily routine. A few weeks ago after reading “Family Circus,” I immediately cut out the cartoon and pasted it in my notebook. The single frame showed Dolly with a coloring book and crayons explaining to her mom, “Smell that, Mommy? It’s my favorite. A just-opened box of                                                    fresh crayons.”
 
I knew that smell immediately, and suddenly I was six years old again with my nose in a just-opened crayon box. That started me thinking about the importance of smells to evoke memories. We all probably have memories associated with smells, either pleasant or not so pleasant. The smell of mothballs always reminds me of a toy rocking horse named Redboy I had as a child. A whiff of cherry pipe tobacco and my head is filled with memories of a guy I dated in college. The scent of apple or cherry pie fresh from the oven brings my grandmother close once again. In today's Nerdy Book Club post, author Philip Stead was talking about the art room in his high school and how the smell was his favorite part – “…a mixture of oil paints and solvents and photo chemicals and graphite dust and wet clay.”
 
There are lots of smells I love to experience. Although they may not be associated with a specific memory, they always have some kind of effect on me. I love the smell of:
 
a freshly opened can of coffee
laundry hanging on the line, warmed by summer sunshine
morning dew
a wreath of newly cut pine boughs
hazelnut coffee
breaking the seal on a new jar of peanut butter (my husband knows to seek me out when this happens)
smoke from a wood stove on a crisp autumn day
roses
lavender
cinnamon
 
I’m sure there are some smells that would bring back unpleasant memories for me as well, but for the most part, smells are a positive force for me. I guess I’m lucky in that respect.

9 Comments
Adrienne link
10/6/2015 08:34:11 am

We had a hardware store chain growing up called Canadian Tire. It had its own scent, sort of the scent of new tires but more. Anytime I catch whiff of that scent nowadays, I am transported back in time.

Reply
Lori Sheroan link
10/6/2015 08:57:38 am

My grandmother kept a little bar of Cashmere bouquet soap in a dish on her bathroom sink. Sometimes I try to remember exactly how it smelled. I loved it! Memories of smells are so personal. I loved your slice!

Reply
Rose
10/6/2015 09:20:43 am

I remember Cashmere Bouquet soap!

Reply
arjeha link
10/6/2015 09:06:51 am

One of my favorite smells is that of freshly baked bread. It brings back memories of my grandmother's kitchen and the big black coal stove that that always had great smells emanating from it.

Reply
Nicky Banzhaf
10/6/2015 12:37:57 pm

I love this. Every time I smell enchiladas, I picture my sweet grandmother's face as she piles more onto my plate--despite my protests. The smells you mentioned spilled me over into so many memories. Thank you for this.

Reply
Elsie
10/6/2015 01:38:32 pm

Smells are powerful! I love freshly cut grass and sawdust. Reminds me of my dad.

Reply
Bernadette link
10/6/2015 02:52:46 pm

The smell of a baby transports right back to the days of young motherhood. Sometimes I can't wait to hold a baby just so I can get a whiff of that fresh life.

Reply
Laura Romaine Brown link
10/6/2015 07:36:49 pm

Every read Anne Lamott's account of "that lemonade thing" she recalled when a runner went by with a lemon soap aroma? Great story. She keeps cards with those memories -- stored in several words and the fragrance that recalled it.

Reply
https://www.resumewriterslist.com/novoresume-com-review/ link
12/5/2019 08:11:07 pm

Looking back at the past is not always good. Because the moment we decide to look back on the good ones, we will also remember the bad ones. It always comes at once, so we better prepare ourselves for a ride of emotions as well.You were right; sometimes, a certain scent has the power to brought us back to certain memories too. I can relate so much on that because I experienced that too up to these days! If we are going to think of it, that's just too powerful!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Rose shares her observations and reflections on teaching and learning.

    Archives

    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.