Olfactory toast

Isn't it funny about smells? People say that, of all the senses, smell is the most powerful memory trigger. Olfactory nerves and whatnot. Anyway, although I have no "scientific data" to prove that it's actually the most powerful, I must agree that those olfactory gears grind into motion pretty quickly when it comes to triggering odd memories.

Sometimes I catch that certain "city" smell - sort of a combination of sewer, cigarette, exhaust and just, well, people - and I think of Vienna. I don't smell it all the time - DC isn't quite as "cityish" as Vienna - but I smelled it in New York a lot.

Old-creaky-apartment smell also reminds me of Vienna, where I lived in a very old, very creaky apartment.

Whenever I smell plumeria I think of my younger sister Hannah, who used to wear plumeria deodorant like 7 years ago. haha.

The scent of geraniums reminds me of the MHS locker room, probably because I kept geranium shampoo in my gym locker in high school.

Last night I made pork chops with golden mushroom soup for dinner and it smelled like my parents' house.

Coppertone Sport and chlorine bring a sense of dread. haha. Not really, it's actually a very nice nostalgic memory of working at the Duarte pool. Which I dreaded occasionally, but overall enjoyed.

Occasionally I'll get a whiff of someone's perfume or cologne and I'm immediately reminded of an old crush or a past best friend. (Did anyone else switch best friends - and crushes - as often as I did when I was a young, foolish teen?)

The smell of yogurt reminds me of long car trips in my family's 1991 Dodge Ram van, 15-seater, white with red interior.

That van is gone now, replaced by the empty-nester-friendly Volvo sedan.

Bath & Body Works "Sun-Ripened Raspberry" reminds me of my mom.

Bath & Body Works "Juniper Breeze" - which my mother-in-law uses so I smell it a lot - reminds me of being in The King & I in high school. I think my friend Joy used it. (Joy was also in The King & I.)

Gillette Shave Gel reminds me of my dad.

Elizabeth Arden "Sunflowers" reminds me of my sister Phoebe, when she was in high school, which is when I was...ten, eleven, twelve.

Vanilla car fresheners remind me of my brother Harry's truck.

Tide detergent reminds me of my sister Bonny's house.

cK One reminds me of an old Seventeen magazine (of Bonny's) that I used to read over and over when I was like 10 (whenever I went to Bonny's house).

That's when it's in an ad in a magazine. When it's on a person, it reminds me of Harry.

Dry ice smell...every stake/high school/middle school dance, ever.

Top Ramen smell reminds me of high school afternoons. I used to eat that stuff every single day after school. So bad for you, yet so, so good.

Chef Boyardee Ravioli. Definitely reminds me of being baby-sat.

The smell when I walk into a pizza place, for some reason, still makes me think of a field trip my kindergarten class took to Domino's once to learn how they made pizza.

Anyway, the reason for all this is I was just in the kitchen at work, someone was making toast and I felt like I had stepped into a St. George condo in 1989. Seriously. We used to go stay in this condo in St. George every summer when I was a kid, and apparently we made a lot of toast. Isn't that strange? Maybe it was a certain kind of toast, because I make toast a lot and don't normally think of St. George.

Interesting.