What scent or smell takes you back to another time?
November 6, 2024 | Sparkle Wednesday
This week's question is a bit of a softball. It's been a crazy last few months, weeks, hours, and it's been brutal. My mantra for the near-term — drop my shoulders and take a few slow, deep breaths.
One of the first Sparkle Wednesdays we did in February 2023 was the question, “What's Your Favorite Smell?" I remember it eliciting some remarkable and vivid responses. We're going there again but with a twist.
We all know the power of scent. Scents and smells are evocative ways to reflect and remember.
One thing on my regular chore list is to water all my plants, which I have a lot of. As I was busy watering and misting yesterday, probably to distract me, the scent of dirt, plants, greenery, and life took me back to the Minnesota Zoo's Tropics Trail.
When the boys were little, we were regulars at the Minnesota Zoo (or, as David still calls it, "The New Zoo"). It was always such a treat. I recall the waft and warmth of the Tropic Trail — a mixture of dirt, plants, humidity, and little kid. That smell takes me back to pushing the black plaid double-stroller with my curious little toddler, Jackson, and sweet little baby, Leo, winter coats, hats, and mittens piled in the bin beneath.
What about you? What scent or smell takes you back to another time?
The earthy smell of the forest, brings like a flood, the sense of escape. We are (were) hikers. We hiked with our toddlers, with each other, to get away from the pressures of the world, and to build new dreams.