the Power of Smell

Scent is a powerful thing. It can repell or attract. It can relax or repulse. It can conjure memories out of thin air. I have been thinking about our wonderful sence of smell for the past week...ever since I went skiing and caught the hint of cigarette smoke in the air. With the sun beating on my face and the laughter of other skiiers enjoying their ride to the top of the mountain, my thoughts were turned to the power of smell. And how it can transport you to a different time and a different place with a simple....whiff!

I am gonna vent a bit about how off we've become with scented stuff. Candles, lotion, air freshener trees, etc. You get the idea.

Have you ever been at the store that was offering those yummy scented candles?! Have you ever picked one up, removed the stupid glass lid, almost dropping it on the floor cuz it's so tight, only to find that the advertised scent smells nothing like it should? This purplexes me. I have to give a little bit of credit here because some scents are dead on...like rose. Except I have NEVER had a boquet of roses actually smell as strong as a dang candle. There's no subtlty with candles. It's hard core, conscentrated, all or nothing. Why?

I don't understand why it is so hard to capture the scent of a Christmas tree in wax. That is one I have tried to find with NO luck. We have one of those lovely, easy to assemble, pre-lit, fake trees. Every year it is a little bit sad....ok a VERY,VERY,VERY sad.....that the fresh pine aroma doesn't welcome us home during the holidays. I have tried to find a cure...fresh garland. Nope. The smell only lasted a day. Then I found one of those da@! candles that advertised being the scent of fresh cut pine. I bought it. I lit it. I HATE it. So. I am still looking for the perfect scented candle.

Another one of those scents that you could never capture in wax is the smell of a new born baby's hair. Mmmmmm. Now that would be hard because it is the smell of yummy baby lotion intermixed with that hard core alcohol stuff that gets rubbed on them at the hospital. I love this smell no matter how weird the scent combinations are, but it is one that has yet to be out done by the candle people.

The scent of the beach. Another one that candle people think they've nailed....but they haven't. The beach never smells like a candle. The beach for me, please don't hate me for this interpretation of beach smells...it is based on my own personal experiences at the beach and my OWN opinion of what it really smells like, has several scents combined to make it so great. The first scent is, of course, the briney sea air. The scent is sometimes strong and hints at being fishy...depending on the beach you are at. The next scent is the not so popular second hand smoke smell. IIIIIII know I shouldn't, but I love this smell in certain situations...ball games, on the ski lift, waiting in line at an amusement park...all outdoor situations really. The reason I think this is a beach smell is because I have never been to a beach for the day without sitting near someone who was puffin' a ciggy. (In all actuallity it was when I was sitting on a ski lift and smelled the cigarette smell that I thought of the beach and began contemplating the power of smell.) And the third beach smell that really pulls the others together is the coconut-y loveliness of sunblock! Coppertone or Hawaiian Tropic top my list of favorite sun block smells. Why can't the candle people put those smells together and put them in a jar?! I'd buy it...especially if they marketed a product to go with it that made your hair feel the way it does after a day in the sun and salt water!!!!!!!!!! And please don't even get me started on the sounds of the beach. Puuu-LEASE!

And those tanning booths...they could entice me to come lay in their cancer inducing cocoons if, maybe, they had my beach smell wafting through the air vent system combined with the sounds of seagulls, waves crashing, a gettoblaster in the distance playing an old Journey tune, and children's laughter playing on the speaker system. Mmmmm. Yes. If the sounds and smells were there. I would be too!

Oh! Oops! Look at me getting distracted AGAIN! So it makes me wonder... does my sniffer work? Am I off or are the candle/lotion/air freshener dudes off? I have never considered myself a hard to please sort of gal, but maybe I am...at least when it comes to smell.

The thing about smell is that when you smell that perfect combination of aromas, your brain is aroused and electric pulses start to stimulate and detailed memories are brought to the surface! Memories that are buried deep. Flat scents don't do it either. It has to be the perfect combination of scents. A complex mixture of smells that align to bring to mind a moment in your life. A good time. A bad time. A person you knew or a place you went.

Today I wanted to share my interpretaion of the beach's smell because I grew up near the sea and I have some wonderufl memories there. When I capture that perfect scent, an explosion of memories flood my brain and I feel happy. I remember that Memorial Day boogie boarding at Corona Del Mar with Krista and Kristin B. when we didn't put on sun block and we were FRIED like a piece of chicken...seriously...it was bad. But the day was off the charts FUN! Or when Alli B.'s dad dropped us off at the beach for the day and that guy kept following us around. We walked down the bike path, got ice cream, went to the Spaghetti factory...it was a GREAT day! Or our first times to drive to the beach alone...sans parents! Woo-Hoo! And going to Balboa for family night. We would get frozen bananas and ride in our car across the channel on the fairy. How about the field trip in 5th grade when we slept on "The Pilgrim"(a replica ship similar to the one's the pilgrims came to America in) and had to do night watch and scrub the decks and use sailing terms like... I need to use the head!...and we disected fish and saw the tide pools! And how could I not mention the wonderful ward beach parties that we had! Nothing beats corn cooked over an open fire in sea water, with hot dogs and smores, and waves crashing, and making plaster of paris foot imprints and building sand castles. Or those rare times when our family would pack up the RV and do a sleep over at Pizmo Beach. We would wake up and splash in the water while mom fixed breakfast. Or my B.I.L's bachelor pad 2 doors down from Newport Beach. He had pirranah in a fish tank. He had surf boards and sex wax in the entry way. The whole roof was a balcony with ocean views all around. Once I got to stay there with my sister when she was house sitting for him. (My sis is 12 yrs my senior, she was so good to let me tag along) We snuggled in the double bed. Opened the windows and let the sea breeze blow the curtains. And we slept to the sound of the rising tide. Aaaaaaaah.(soft and relaxed) Good Memories...

All of that because I smelled a smell. (or combination of smells) Martin Luther King dreamed a dream...but I smelled a smell. LOL!!!!!! That was lame...but I'm lame! So deal with it or move on!

What smells trigger your mind into a nostalgic daze?! Just curious!