Monday, September 10, 2007

Smells Like a Memory

The power of smell is undeniable. We quickly, and subconsciously, associate memories with a smell. For example, in our ongoing drama de car, we have now linked the smell of gasoline with trouble. The trouble being a hole in the gas tank resulting in our car transforming into a portable gas bath! Though all patched up, the smell of octane still wafts through Aunty Pearl and we laugh as we are the only people driving with our windows down in the rain!

Who cannot help but feel the warm glow of Christmas when they smell cinnamon (even if it does come from a Glade plug-in)? We build scented connections not only to events, but places and people as well; the energizing earthiness of the Redwoods, the salty bite of the Atlantic, the industrial fortitude of Petrolia (if you’ve been there, you know), the youth that seems to evaporate from a babies head or the distinct fragrance worn by a friend. It seems that each new smell is a memory waiting to happen.

With less than four months to go, we’ve been trying to soak in our surroundings – to stop and really appreciate what is around us. While walking at Crescent Beach we smell the drying seaweed exposed by the low tide. On Granville Island the flower market is smelled long before it is seen. In Langley wafts of warm bread grab our attention from the nearby bakery. Our memories of Canada are going to smell terrific!

We can only imagine while living in Slovakia what smells might bring our minds back to these places providing momentary times of reminiscing. In some way it is comforting to know that we will take part of this home with us, and in others it is so very exciting to know that there is a whole new country just waiting to be smelled…you know what we mean!

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