Friday, September 9, 2011

Friday Freeze Frame

It's funny how certain sounds, smells or seasons can trigger memories from the past. For me, the smell of freshly dug peanuts takes me back to elementary school. When my dad held passes to attend the local high school football games. He and I would go every Friday night that they played at home. I always associate the smell of peanuts with high school football. 

Along those same lines, I also associate the hum of peanut dryers with cooler weather. Growing up we lived less than a half mile from the Altha Farmer's Co-op Peanut Mill. Farmers would haul their wagons, loaded with peanuts to the mill and there the wagons would be hooked up to dryers. During Fall, I would fall asleep with my windows open, listening to the hum of those dryers. Of course, then I would wake up with a stuffy nose and sore throat. Fall allergies, more memories.

Irish Spring soap makes me think of my great-uncle James. He lived in Cocoa Beach and we would visit him at least once a year. I loved going to his house for the simple fact he had stairs! I loved climbing and playing on those stairs. He always kept everyone around him in stitches. When we would be walking in a department store and pass a mannequin, he would stop, face it and say, "Hello, dummy." To a five year old, you couldn't get more hysterical than that line. He always smelled like Irish Spring. 

This week the road in front of our house was resurfaced. On the way to pick up the girls from school I had the windows down, and the smell hit me. That hot asphalt smell. I breathed deeply. It was the smell of my Papa's shirt. He worked so many years with the asphalt company, it almost was just an ingrained part of him. I cannot smell fresh asphalt and not think of him. And so, with that smell, it brought back a flood of sweet memories and a touch of sadness that his steady presence is not here.  

This week I am thankful for the little things that trigger the small things in life we tend to forget. The precious memories that are so wonderful to recall.


For those who have made an imprint on our lives...

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