The Smell of Memories


"I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

That’s a line from one of my favorite movies. It got me to thinking about smells so I wrote down my thoughts on the subject.

Scientist say that one of the post powerful things we have associated with memory is smell. As a child I remember the smell of the perfume that
my baby sitter wore. It was always comforting to me when she was around. She was much more dependable than my parents were when it came to
being caring and sympathetic whenever I got those bee stings or scrapes and bruises.

Coconut oil brings back memories of long summer days on Sanibel Island in Florida where we spent every summer growing up. The sun screen I was
forced to wear as a red head to prevent my skin from broiling off always smelled of coconut oil.

The smell of old cracked leather reminds me of that 1971 Chevy Nova that was my first car. Its red leather seats faded and worn from too many years
hold memories that are priceless. From that first taste of freedom it afforded me the ability to go where and when I wanted, to my first experience
with a member of the fairer sex.

The smell of molten zinc although deadly in sufficient quantities always reminds me of happy moments in college casting bronze in the foundry trying
not to roast in the blinding heat and having a blast quite literally in the blast furnace while pouring liquid molten metal and avoiding the inevitable gaseous
zinc vapors. The same goes for burning wax. It always reminds me of one of my favorite Zen like activities. Carving wax and making new wax models for
casting. It is small tedious work that for some reason I find incredibly relaxing and it gives me a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Conversely some smells have bad memories, such as rotten meat. It reminds me of the 2 weeks I spent in Czechoslovakia having to live on rancid dog
meat and radishes. Seriously this really happened. Or the smell of baby powder which one wouldn’t think would be objectionable but always brings back
horrifying memories of my grandmother known affectionately as the DREAD. She was always covered in a liberal coating of baby powder. One of the most
disagreeable and nasty human beings in the universe to say the least. Oddly enough the smell of Oreo cookies also holds a negative association for me. I have
no idea why I am sure it has something to do with my childhood that I have blocked out because it was so awful. But for some reason the smell of Oreos make
a cold shiver go down my spine and I want to just scream and throw up. Now isn’t that really weird.

But the smell I think I like the most is the actinic smell of the caustic chemical known as DEET. That’s right the active ingredient in most heavy duty
bug repellents. It always reminds me of my camping trips. It’s the one constant smell that carries over from year to year that brings back thoughts of
sitting around the campfire with all my friends. You would think it would be the smell of the burning wood in the campfire or roasting hot dogs or even
the ripe odor Greg gets after two days of camp setup with no shower. But no it’s the smell of that horrible bug spray that always brings back some
of my most cherished memories. Those golden weeks spending time with my best friends in the woods relaxing.

Smell is an odd thing and you can never tell what memory will flare up when you get a whiff of something.