Memory Lane

Isn't it funny how a smell can take you back - to the second- of another time in your life.

Last night (taking a break from the commentfest going on at Owlhaven) I walked outside and there was a smell in the air -it happens almost every fall- a crisp smell with a tinge of moisture and a dab of car exhaust and it seriously took me back to NYC. I could have been standing there with my dance bag over my shoulder on my way to rehearsal waiting for a break in cars across Houston St. Funny but even the smell of roasted peanuts was in that breath, the guy standing on the corner with cut off gloves serving them.

As the tears welled up I suddenly thought about how lucky I am to have lived in such a wonderful place but also how grateful I am that I don't have to drag my baby on the subway or carry grocery bags and a baby up a 6 story walk up. Boy do the times change if someone told me then that I'd be living in the northwest, married to a wonderful man with a terrific son I would have told them they were nuts.

This is the second time this sensation has happened to me this week, the first time was this weekend when my Mom brought a gardening book to me that used to be my Grandma's. There were a bunch of markers in it so I opened it to see what one of them was and whosh I was in my Grandma and Bobo's house. Sitting at their kitchen bar eating cookies and chatting. Watching my Bobo place the cards down on the counter in the rows of solitaire and my Grandma watching out the window while my brother played football in our yard just down the hill. The Yankee game muted on the TV and the piles of "junk" on the counter. Even the little red sparkly christmas ornament that hung on the corner of the upper cabinet over the bar (put there after one too many people hit their head). It was a fun place to go back to, they are truly missed.

Just thought I'd share. Now I'm on computer probation until I get enough canning done to take myself off my self imposed restriction!