Time Travel

Do you have smells that take you back in time?? I certainly do! I was in Dan and Kathy's back yard this evening...McKenzie picked a gardenia off of one of their bushes and handed it to me. Just one sniff and I traveled in time back to 1969-Senior Year in Coronado! Summer nights in Coronado always smelled like gardenias. It amazes me that almost 40 years later the fragrance of a flower has the power of time travel!


Gardenias from Kathy's back yard.

So I was thinking on my drive home what other smells trigger past memories. Here are a few- Jergens hand lotion always reminds me of my mother. I'm sure she had other fragrances around her but that is the one I remember. Snickerdoodle cookies take me back to Enid, Oklahoma where my Grandmother Schaefer lived. She always made them for us when we came to visit. A fresh box of crayons reminds me of elementary school.

And what about music?? I could go on all night about what memories come from which song. Beach Boys' "Surfer Girl" takes me back to Jr High dancing with Mike Rohan. Jan and Dean songs take me back to Laurie Gray's living room when a bunch of us 8th grade girls would practice dancing and snacking on chips and dip! Rolling Stones and The Beatles take me back to all the dances in high school. The Stones' "Under My Thumb" gives me flash backs of being with Joanie in her '67 Mustang. Fast forward to the 80'sand 90's---Kylie Minogue's "Locomotion" takes me back to Brooke's birthday party when she was in 4th grade. When I hear a Raffi song I can see clearly in my mind Cami in her pink bedroom listening to his songs on her Fisher Price tape player at bedtime! Every time I hear a Bob Marley song I think of Ian and how he liked him when he was about 15. "Soul Man" was a song Cami danced to in a tap competition. The list goes on forever, as I'm sure it does for you too. So what smells and songs take you back in time??? I would love to hear about it.