What things come to mind when you smell a certain scent?
Amazing how only five senses can connect us to the world around us. Just the unique gift of smell can mystically transport us to visions of the past. It’s like unlocking a treasure chest and a memory comes out in a fragrance. It seems to go into our nose and into our heart in one momentary whiff.
Pause and think of what aroma causes you to revisit a special place in your story. I realize some memories can smell like a wet dog, but just for now think of something that takes you to a sweet place of contentment. Good remembrances.
For me, fragrant flashbacks of paste and crayons reopens Miss Zerdan’s first grade classroom door at Trevose elementary school. Smelled like beginnings.
I can still visit Gramma’s house of mothballs or garden of boxwood with one nostalgic inhale. The fresh smell of laundry on the line transfers me to the hem of my mother’s apron where I learned to count clothespins.
First date violets – smelled like innocence.
The sweetest scent of baby’s breath and powdered bottoms when nothing compared to the incense of new life wrapped swaddling-tight for a lifetime.
Hot cider simmering on a wood-burning stove smells like the kids are coming home from long ago school days. Smelled like a piece of my heart.
After my mom passed away I tried to preserve her scent by keeping an article of clothing in a zip-lock bag. Over time, it faded. She never wore perfume – she just smelled like mom – so, it will always remain.
I remember the scent of the dear lady who prayed me through the veil, after I walked down the aisle with Jesus way back in ‘75 in a little church in Bensalem. Smelled like freedom.
I can recall the scent of crisp pages in my first Bible. Smelled like deliverance.
Some things lose their scent, but the life-giving fragrance of Christ can never diminish. Smells like Presence.
What smells like sweet remembrance?
Verna
Another beautifully written post. What a gift of writing you have, Verna. Just the pause I needed in this busy day to reflect on God’s goodness and
faithfulness in my life. I love the smell of the ocean and even more than
that, the scent of Jesus in you and my other Christian sisters!
And what a beautifully written comment! Thanks Lucy. I got to breathe in the ocean this past weekend with Sherise and the grandgirls . . .
Awwww . . . beautiful, Verna! I love the memory trigger of scent. There’s an Italian deli in town that transports me to my grandma’s house walking into the kitchen every time I’m in there. You’ve listed a lot of commonplaces here. Something to think on as we come into the season where scent captivates us especially during the holidays. Taking us back . . . I’m writing about looking back this month too with my Memorial Stones – visual reminders of moments in time.
Joy!
Kathy
I’ll look forward to reading about your Memorial Stones – I have mine logged in my piles and piles of journals 🙂 Yes, this season is filled with scents of memory!
You are so right, Verna. Sometimes when I least expect it I am transported back to:
My grandpa’s house with the scent of Captain Black pipe tobacco.
My grandparents’ cottage with the smell of wood smoke.
It’s amazing how scents linger, tied to sweet memories.
I love this, Jeanne – and it does have a way of transporting us right back there. Fall nights and a wood burning stove, I’m there!
So glad I checked my reader today, Verna. It seems that so many of the blogs I read do not come through email anymore but through my reader. So, glad I happened to stop by and find you here. What a beautiful post. Speaking of scents and fragrances today, I found a bottle of lotion with your favorite fragrance, but you can’t have it til Christmas!
love you sweet friend and hope you are feeling better. Please keep me posted!
I’m so glad you stopped by, also! I’m looking forward to getting inspired by sitting down with your latest blog writing (it’s been a week!) Oh, and I can’t wait for Christmas because I’m thinking you have a surprise gift of Patchouli for me! Love you!
So I clicked below and maybe your next post will be directed to email. (:
Trying to see if signing up for your blog below will do it.