…freshly sealed blacktop, I think of tennis practice in high school, in August, and I can almost see those freshly sealed courts. I can also hear the football team practicing and retching from double sessions in 90 degree heat.

When I smell fast food greasy smells, I think of being pregnant and flying to Philadelphia.  That jetway door would open at 7am and the airport food court would hit me like a lead balloon! I once sat on a US Air flight back to NYC, late at night, flight delayed, you know the drill.  I was on the aisle, a man was in the center and another woman at the window.  She and I were both very pregnant. Once we took off, he reached down and open a container of Chinese food.  We both looked at him and told him he had to move or the consequences would be severe!  God bless that man, he said he had 3 children and he knew the drill.  I will never forget him.

This morning I took Izzy out and when I opened that sliding door at 6:30 AM, that 73 degree heat and that hazy summer smell was wonderful.  It reminded me of being a kid, in an old house without air conditioning and how I loved the heat even then.  My ‘baby-doll’ PJ’s were soaking wet and I never blinked an eye.

Smells are like sounds and music how they trigger a memory and bring you back to that moment in your life.  As I have said before, I cannot remember where I placed my shoes today, but I smell Romano cheese and and I can see my grandmother at the kitchen table, grating that huge brick for macaroni that night. I miss her.

Now, I have a son who thinks that spraying Axe on slightly worn clothes replaces both a shower and the washing machine.  That smell will give me memories for years to come. 

Some smells I would like to avoid:
1. LAX gear and a stray “cup” that has been fermenting in the back of my SUV for hours in the beating sun.
2. Girls basketball shoes and socks after a tournament weekend in Rhode Island.
3. In order to spare my wonderful husband any more embarassment than I usually give him, I will ask you ladies, can you imagine the smells I am referring to, now can’t you?
4.  Puppy puke: I will say no more.
and finally number 5:  baby puke and a #2 filled diaper with the added bonus of a breast fed baby! Yuck!

So pay attention to the smells you are smelling today and remember the association that you have to them.  They make great memories like the first morning after you have a freshly cut Christmas Tree in your house.  You open that bedroom door and that pine and citrus smell…mmmmm. Doesn’t get any better than that!