The Nose Knows

Isn't it weird how you'll get a wiff of something and out of nowhere a memory pops into your head?  It's amazing how often this happens and many times the memory is something that I haven't thought about in years.  And, I don't think that I've ever had a bad memory pop up.  They're always good ones that bring a smile to face.

For example, I was in the Target snack bar a few weeks ago and there was something is the air that instantly reminded of my parents' lakehouse.  But it wasn't food.  It's some kind of air freshener that my mom keeps plugged in down there.  I'm not sure why that particular odor was in the snack bar area, but I'm glad it was because it made me smile.

I bought a new Glade air freshener called Magic Meadow.  When I sprayed it the store, my mind was flooded with memories from my senior year job at the Flower Cart in Benton. It was a flower shop, although they rarely let me touch any of the arrangements.  My job was to drive the van and make deliveries.  I loved that job because I got to drive all over and because I loved the smell of the shop. (On a side note:  I also on occassion had to pin flowers on dead people at the funeral home.  How many of you can put that on your resume?)

Another memory that pops into my head from time to time is band camp at Henderson.  I have no idea what the smell is that triggers these memories, but all of a sudden they're there.  Pictures of me with friends whose names I can remember and faces that have no names.  Us playing pool, watching movies, or just hanging out in the student center.  I always looked forward to Band Camp.  I week away from your parents on a college campus with a bunch of other middle school and junior high kids.  What more could you ask for?

Noah put on a shirt the other day that been packed away and said, "I like this shirt because it smells like David." (his cousin)  I said, "I'm sure that is smells like Michael (David's younger brother), too since he was probably the last one to wear it."  But, Noah replied,"No.  It just smells like David."

The other strange thing about the nose is how it can become desensitzed to smells.  This is very frustrating for me because I'll light a new candle or start using new detergent because I like the way it smells and all of a sudden the smell is gone!  Other people say that they can smell it in my house, but I can't.  This happened when I switched to Gain detergent.  My Aunt Marcy uses it and I loved going into her laundry room, but of course now that I use it, I can't smell in on my clothes nor do I smell it when I go to her house!  Very, very frustrating.


I'm know that there's a big scientific explanation as to how this all works, but I explain is it as one of those cool things that our body can do.