Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Memories evoked by smells

Watermelon's smell takes me back to childhood, under the plum tree eating watermelon. We sat beside a water faucet, on a small, slatted-wood platform hugging the ground, presumably to keep people from getting muddy when the water splashed onto the ground.

Another smell memory is of my grandmother's hyacinths growing along the side of the garage (on the coalbin side). Those flowers grew next to my sandbox, installed there by my daddy when we moved into Grandma's house after she died. Smelling a hyacinth transports me back to the sandbox, and I can still feel the gritty sand sticking to my legs. When the sand was damp, my brother and I would pack it around our feet and then carefully slide our feet out to leave mounded sand houses, ready for occupancy.

(Response to Goldendaze-Ginnie's post: "The Power of Smell - My First Memory.")

3 comments:

Ginnie said...

Thanks, Bonnie.I'm gratified that my blog tweaked your memories...they are lovely ones. Ginnie

Anonymous said...

Roses do it for me every time. They remind me of my mother and grandmother who were avid rose growers. Fresh lemons also remind me of when my sister and I used to make lemonade as kids. Also, the smell of rosemary transports me back to my Mum's Sunday roasts. Aaah, those were the days!

Beth said...

I love your hyacinth memories, Bonnie. What lovely details---the sand sticking to your legs, the foot-formed sand houses---wonderful!