I got a little behind on writing these past couple of days, but I've been thinking about these gratitudes, none the less!
Today, I am grateful for the sense of smell. I was listening to a radio game show over the weekend. The moderator asked the contestants a fun question and the contestants had to answer immediately with the first thing that came to their mind. One of the questions was "What did high school smell like?" One contestant shot back with "Noxema" and then the next said, "Binaca" (that aerosolized breath spray).
When I taught anatomy & physiology, I learned that the sense of smell is well connected with the brain's memory "hub", so that's the reason we connect smell to the past so well. It was such a fun exercise that Andy and I went through a couple of smell-associated memories as we drove up to Winston-Salem on Saturday.
What did high school smell like?
Me- dirty soccer socks
Andy- wrestling mats
What did college smell like?
Me- wet red clay (from many hikes and ball-throwing escapades with Gatsby) and stale beer at frat parties (don't worry, Mom, I did not drink that beer. But I did smell it and it was gross)
Andy- chalk bag (from climbing) and the musty basement smell of the campus safety office (where he worked)
What did Texas smell like?
Me- Lysol cleaning wipes (from cleaning the tops of my lab tables)
Andy- Eric's ranch- dirt, clean and open
I wonder what this season of my life will smell like? Coffee, wet wipes, Dreft, dirty diapers... I suppose that if someone asks me one day "What does happiness smell like?" I'll respond with one of those.
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