What is That Smell?

Got busy with school starting back up and soccer and scouts and all the other stuff that comes along with my family life, so sorry it has taken so long to continue my exploration of my senses. The sense of smell can evoke memories and emotions in me like no other sense. A simple whiff of hay and I have flashbacks of a childhood filled with hay fields and barn lofts full of bales. Pretty much any scent holds a memory for me and can transport my mind instantly to some other place and some other time, usually good, a few not so good.

As usual the list doesn't contain the obvious...my husband's axe body wash, my child's shampoo.




12. Baby Powder. Soft, wiggly, cooing babies covered in the sweet goodness of Johnson's baby powder. Makes me want a dozen more babies. I miss having babies around.







11. Honeysuckle. My back fence is covered in it and every time we open the door the scent invades the house, just like when I was a kid and it was growing all over the side of our house.







10. Fresh bread baking in the oven. My Grandma and my great Grandmother baked their own bread all the time. I loved the taste of it fresh and hot from the oven, spread with great globs of butter, but I think I loved the smell more.






9. Wood smoke. The first traces of smoke from chimneys in the fall always brings about an abundance of feelings for me. I love fall so I am excited that the weather is cooling and bringing my favorite season. It also brings back all those childhood memories in a home heated with wood...tea kettles on a wood stove, hanging our coats on a rack in front of the fire to warm before going to school, drying our shoes after a day in the snow, real popcorn popped over an open fire.



8. Freshly mowed grass. I love that first cutting in the spring, when the grass is so alive and lush. Doesn't smell the same way later in the summer, but it's still nice.









7. Coconut. Does anything say summer like the distinctive smell of coconut? I can't smell it without thinking of days spent relaxing on a beach while my children, slathered in coconut smelling sunscreen, romp about collecting sea shells, chasing the fishies and building architectural wonders from mounds of sand.



6. Coffee. Can't stand to drink it, but love to smell it. My husband grinds his own beans and it fills the house with that wonderfully eye opening aroma.








5. Rain. I love waking up in the morning to the refreshing, clean smell of a hard rain. Or opening the doors on a cloudy evening and smelling an approaching rain storm.




4. Plumeria. I don't miss a lot from our extended stay in Hawaii, but the scent of the plumeria tree in my front yard is one of the things I do miss. The sweet smell drifting through open windows and doors all year was intoxicating.




3. Pumpkin Pie. I honestly don't care much for the taste, but the smell is heavenly. I have pumpkin pie lotions and pumpkin pie air fresheners, but there's nothing like the real thing, straight from the oven on Thanksgiving day.




2. Gingerbread. Gingerbread houses and Gingerbread Men (or boys as my daughter insists) are traditions in my family. Holidays just wouldn't be the same without that distinct smell wafting around the house.






1. Cinnamon. Yum. Nothing conjures up memories of cozy kitchens, fluffy grandmas, and tasty delights more than the scent of fresh cinnamon.