I have two smells that bring me back.
One is the smell of moss. It makes me think about time spent with my sister Kelly hiking and camping or hanging out with her at the nursery she worked at when I was a kid. I don't remember anything specifically.... A bad memory is a sad side effect to my raging Synesthesia. Either that or I'm so self unaware... Probably both. All I know is if I get a whiff of moss, I instantly feel happy and adventurous even though I've heard that during those hiking trips I was a fucking wuss who couldn't cross a log laid over a two inch stream without thinking I was going to drown. I've been told I was a very skittish, assholian kid. Sorry to whoever was unfortunate enough to be around me from the ages 1 to 25... My sincerest apologies.
The other smell that brings me back is the smell of fresh cut grass and morning dew. It instantly brings me back to playing golf with my dad as a kid. I remember one time in particular when I was visiting him in Riverside, CA over a weekend. We went to play golf at the Indian Hill Country Club.
I remember we got up before the sun did. It was cold and wet but it was set to be a gorgeous day. We got to the golf course about a half hour before our tee time. We unloaded our golf bags from the trunk of the car and walked towards the clubhouse. We walked in unison carrying our bags and for some reason, this sticks out to me as a moment of manhood.
We walked into the diner of the clubhouse and sat down. My dad ordered a coffee and I got an orange juice. The sun had just come up. He ordered bacon, eggs and pancakes. I ordered the same and felt like a man for some reason. We went out onto the first tee. It was a Par 3 with a tee box high above the green. That's one thing I remember liking about Indian Hill is that it was so hilly. I was glad we had a golf cart though. I don't remember anything about the round of golf exactly but I remember that day as being a rare bonding occasion. It was awesome.
Fresh cut grass always makes me feel like a man.
Another pointless blog,
-Gino
Our sense of smell is an amazingly evocative memory trigger. I'm with ya on the fresh cut grass...for me very soothing and relaxing. Makes me think of fine spring days, playing in the park and baseball. My grandfather took me to my first Angels game when I was about 9, back when they played at Dodger Stadium. I can still vividly remember feeling the breeze on my face walking out of the tunnel, smelling the freshly cut, immaculately trimmed and (to me) enormous expanse of emerald grass before us. I have no idea who they played, or if they won, but I've never forgotten the smell of that grass and the feel of that breeze on a perfect spring day, watching baseball with my grandfather.
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