Smells…
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The other day, after getting dressed, I sprayed a bit of perfume on, and then went in to wake Maya. She sleepily said, “It smells like mama in here”. Very cute. I love that she identifies the smell of my perfume (Eternity Purple Orchid) with me, and then I noticed that I’m almost out of said perfume, which sucks. Gonna have to get some more, I guess. She also has mentioned the sound of mama, which, when it’s not me yelling at her or saying, GET OUT OF BED, is the sound my bangle bracelets make when I walk. That felt cozy for some reason, too. But the perfume comment got me to thinking about smells, about how evocative they are, about how the faintest whif of something can take you back, take you to a place apart, be that place wonderful or horrid.
I had a friend in the 5th grade, a girl whose family emigrated from Yugoslavia to California, who lived a few doors down from us in Campbell. Sometimes after school, we would ride our bikes up and down the street, pretending that they were thoroughbreds, and we were riding in the Kentucky Derby or something like that. After riding for awhile, we would stop off at her house for a snack. Her house always smelled just the same, like baking bread, but not like any bread I’ve ever smelled since. It must have been a regional bread from Yugoslavia, and to my nose’s memory, some 30 years later, it may have been more yeasty than American style bread. I don’t know, but I do know that it was delicious, and her mother and grandmother (neither of whom spoke more than a few words of English) were always very kind to me.Â
Another evocative smell for me is roofing tar. When we lived in Fairbanks, my mother’s friend fell in love and married a wonderful man, Bobby, who became somewhat of a father figure to me for a brief time. I loved him, both of them really, very much, and his friendship was important to me. He happened to be a roofer, and so I have always associated that hot tarry smell with happiness and quiet joy.
There is a smell sometimes, I think it’s honeysuckle, that I adore. Mostly I think of Stockton on that one, because I used to walk from the High School to my after school job, down a street with a lot of Honeysuckle blooming, and it smelled like heaven. Now I can never completely identify it, but I get a whif, and it’s lovely. Jasmine is similar. Lovely.
Then there are the not so lovely smells. I worked for 7 years at a hotel in San Francisco, and when I worked the 6am – 2pm shift, sometime between 6:00 and 6:30, the entire lobby would fill with the smell of garlic. Now I like garlic as much as the next girl, but not so much at 6am. We never could figure out exactly where the smell was coming from, because the hotel restaurant, kitchen, and employee cafeteria all smelled OK. Perhaps a restaurant across the street? Hmmm. It was disgusting.
Speaking of disgusting, also across the street was the Powell Street BART station, the stairways of which always smelled like human urine. We were in SF last weekend to see my boyfriend, and they have redone the brick area near the stairs, and that pee smell is thankfully gone. The stairways to every parking garage in San Francisco all have that exact same smell, however, and now, living out in the burbs, I can never go up or down a flight of parking garage stairs without being thankful that they don’t smell of urine. I miss the city in many ways, but not so much that one.
Another bad smell forme is the first rain after a hot dry summer. California doesn’t really get any rain between April (sometimes May) and October (sometimes November), but when you get a rare summer rain, the hot sidewalk puts off a pretty nasty smell. Kind of sulferish. I don’t know. Maybe I’m insane on this one, but I’ve smelled it too many times. Blech.
But I’ve completely strayed from the purpose of my post, which was nice smells…like perfume, or baking bread. Another of my favorites is when Ted makes lamb curry and roti. Mmm. The whole house smells amazing after that.
What are smells that take you to a certain time or place, regardless of your actual location?
21 Comments
Shelliza
A few years ago, my mother was vacationing in Europe and I missed her terribly. I couldn’t call her a million times, like I usually do but it was so comforting to go over there and walk into her room. Her room smelled like her and the perfume she wears.
Pepperpot (do you know what that is?) always reminds me of the Christmases I had as a child in Guyana, and Apple Cider makes me think of Canada.
J
Hi Sheliza, yes, I know what pepperpot is. 🙂 Ted’s mom makes it once in awhile for his dad. I must admit, it’s not my bag, but it’s very evocative, I think.
Chrissy
Lovely post, as always, J! Hmmm…can you perhaps hold off on purchasing your perfume yourself? Mother’s Day is just around the corner 😉 Maybe Py and Maya will surprise you!
Rosewater makes me think of my grandmother. Whenever I smell that sweet, subtle aroma, I think of her. Old Spice reminds me of my grandfather who passed away when I was teaching overseas. I wasn’t able to come home for the funeral, so for years I felt like I didn’t have any closure. When I was teaching in Japan, I rode to my apartment after work one night, and could smell Old Spice. It was so eerie, because that’s not a common scent over there! I turned around and saw an old man riding his bicycle almost alongside me and he smiled. When I looked back, he was gone! Weird!
Johnson’s and Johnson’s baby products take me back nearly two decades ago, when my youngest brother was a baby. He’s now 21 and I can still smell that soft baby smell and envision his chubby drooly cheeks! I miss that time… Now he’s in university and he’s growing up 🙁
Py Korry
Diesel fuel reminds me riding the bus to elementary school. 🙂
Ml
Baby powder reminds me of my Mom. She always smelled good. That bangle noise that reminds Maya of you also reminds me of my maternal grandmother and my Mom as they both wore bangles (I don’t think Mom does anymore, though).
Ginger
I started commenting then realized I should just post on this because my comments were so long. It is amazing how a smell can take you back and embrace you in the feelings you had back ‘when’.
Valbee
Palmolive dish soap (the original scent) reminds me of my grandmother’s kitchen. I still use that brand today because of it.
Sophisticated Writer
Oh J, I think we do think alike. I was just thinking about scents and where they take me…
I’ll write a post about that now. I don’t want to write a 30-line long comment here 😉
Take care!
Beenzzz
Spring blossoms always reminds me of falling in love. I guess it’s related to the spring fever feeling. It’s a lovely thing! 🙂
CuriosityKiller
Friend of mine always wears Perry Ellis ever since she was in high school, and says that people actually recognize her for that scent. They know “Joanne is here.” while walking down the hallway. I like that. I change my perfume too much to ever be a memory to anyone but me…
But baby powder says home to me.
Starshine
J, I love this post! Scents are powerful, no?
You’ll have to stop in Bath and Bodyworks soon. They have a brand new scent called Wild Honeysuckle. I just bought a bottle of their shower gel, and it is lovely! It smells jasminy to me.
You are not crazy at all about the sulfery smell during a hot summer rain. Actually, what you are likely smelling is the pollution in the atmosphere being pushed down to earth by the rain. The rain kind of acts as an air cleaner. But those first moments when the rain starts, it smells “dirty” because, well, it is! But after the rain…mmmm…much better.
V-Grrrl
Honeysuckle reminds me of falling in love for the first time and the sultry Virginia summer.
Ralph Lauren’s perfume “Romance” reminds me of my first months in Belgium, when I was living out of suitcase and hadn’t packed any fragrance. After a few weeks, I couldn’t stand life without perfume and bought a bottle.
The smell of eggs scrambled in butter reminds me of my aunt’s house.
I still remember the way my dog Jenny smelled–it was doggy but sweet–her unique scent.
Walking by the Psych. Dept. building in college, you always got a strong, hot whiff of rodents from the Psych Lab in the basement.
And then there was the smell of dairy barns being cleaned out which reminds me of my rural home in the mountains.
Lalunas
Hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls reminds me of comfort. I just love that smell.
ally bean
When I was a very young girl my mother wore a perfume called Ma Griffe. For some reason she stopped wearing it by the time I was older. Anyway, a few years ago I was in a perfume store and saw a spray tester for it. I sniffed it and was taken back in time to the little apartment we lived in. I saw my mother in her church clothes and with her hair all sprayed into place. It was such an out of time experience that I shied away from buying a bottle of Ma Griffe. I didn’t think that I could take all the emotion that scent stirred up in me.
joan
One summer I stayed in my college town in the mountains. I had a job making crafts for a couple who sold them to stores. Most items involved baby’s breath and potpourri. It was a great job. I worked weekday afternoons, no evenings or weekends and they paid well but by the end of the summer I hated the smell. My eyes would water. Still no potpourri at my house after all these years.
CG
Pond’s cold cream reminds me of my mother. I loved smelling her when she got all dressed up with a little spray of Dior.
Chrissy
There’s this one smell that I can’t really describe…it’s more of a “city” smell in the summer. I associate it when all the cars and factories in the city I lived/taught in when I was in Japan. I remember being in my apartment, one HOT (stinking hot!) summer afternoon, the stale, hot air and the sound of traffic just left me with a very dull feeling. There was just a slight breeze that blew my patio door curtains and the music of Bic Runga and Felipa Giordano played in the background. This was a time when I was going through some really rough times with the guy I was seeing at the time, and my grandfather had passed away.
It’s amazing what the persistence of the memory can do and how smells and sounds (like music) can trigger such memories…
Starshine
Happy Easter, J!
Gina
Chanel No. 5 will always remind me of my maternal grandmother. It’s the only perfume she ever wore.
samibear
Many comments! I loved this post. I live with the absence of smell since my sense of smell is gone now for years. However, your post made me remember all sorts of nostalgic smells. I remember one in particular, the smell of J on his pillow. I wish I could smell that. It would be so comforting when he is out of town. Maybe I’ll do a post on this smell subject sometime.
ann adams
I’d almost managed to forget about 24th Street BART. Glad they cleaned it up.
When I drive down 99 N from here, there’s one spot between Livingston and Turlock where we get the combined smells of growing onion, cow poop, and McDonald’s french fries.
Unbelievable.