Monday, June 11, 2007

The Smells on Memory Lane

Take a deep breath.

Did you smell anything familiar? Did you get a whiff of something that takes you back in time?

I did. And it brought me back to memory lane, or maybe I really never left after the music brought me here on Saturday.

I must confess that the sense of smell has always been strong in my family. I’m not sure if we have a heightened sense of smell. But there are just some smells that we can’t get enough of. And it’s actually kind of weird.

On any given day, if they lived in the city, you might catch my mom or some of her sisters at Payless Shoe Source walking the aisles, pretending to shop for shoes. Really though, they’re soaking up the smell.

And growing up, I used to love going grocery shopping at a small local store called Boysen’s because it had such a unique smell. The store has long since gone out of business. A church now meets in the building. So, I’ll just have to rely on my memory of how neat that smell was. (Unless, of course, I am bold enough to show up one Sunday just to get a whiff of the smell--which I’ve heard is still there.)

Two smells that bring back very fond memories are my grandmother’s dusty/musty 1966 Chevy Impala and the smell of rain at her house as it came through the metal window screens. Unfortunately, I can’t go soak up the love that came with those smells because Granny passed away last fall. I’m just hoping that my olfactory lobes can continue to duplicate those smells again each time I’m on memory lane.

But not all the smells that I’ve enjoyed have disappeared. My dad’s tool drawers are still in tact and take me back to days of seeing him teach high school kids how to fix cars. He was completely in his element then with a glass bottle of Dr. Pepper in hand.

Not too many rooms away, I can get a whiff of my mom’s jewelry box. I can remember her asking me to go get out a certain necklace with a locket on it so that she could wear it to church.

And then there are the scents of cologne and perfume that bring a certain person to mind. English Leather is what my dad and grandpa wore on special occasions, and on normal days, they smelled like the Lava soap that they’d used to wash away the dirt and grime on their hands.

After revisiting all these smells, I am reminded that “we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?” (2 Cor. 2:15-16)

Lord, I recognize that I am not equal to such task. But that you have called me anyway and asked me to be the fragrance of life. Thank You for giving me wonderful examples of what it is to be a sweet fragrance. As I go out into the world, help my life to be an aroma that is pleasing to You.

6 comments:

Tracy said...

What a lovely post! I hope that my life has the aroma of Christ, as well.

I love the name of your blog, and the photo is amazing...is it photoshopped or a real photo? I know it snowed in the hill country on Easter weekend, so maybe it's possible! Very cool!

I'm a Texan transplant now living in the Sunshine State.

Have a great day!

Alyssa said...

Starshine - Thank you for your kind remarks. The photo was sent to my mom in an email shortly after the Easter snow, but she couldn't exactly trace the origin. I hope you'll stop back by again soon!

Techsan said...

You forgot the plastic Christmas tree...which if you want we can pull down from the attic next week & smell. : )

Alyssa said...

TS - I think that actually got thrown away because it was melting! If you're brave enough to go up in the attic, I'd love to know if it's still there!

spaghettipie said...

I wonder why our sense of smell is so closely attached to our memory...

Alyssa said...

SP - Great question. I have no idea if there's an easy physiological explanation for that or not. Any doctors out there have an answer to this??