Recently, I visited my local, friendly Office Depot for toner. Why friendly? Because so many fresh-faced, young people ask me if I need help finding anything that I'm tempted to make a micro cassette recording of, "no, thank you" and punch play when they start stalking me with their good intentions.
Down the center of the store were the back to school specials, and the smell of Crayons washed over me, whisking me back to all the years I'd participated in the annual rite known as shopping for school supplies.
Of the five senses, smell is particularly interesting. I wrote a romance novel Say Yes in which the heroine was a perfumer by trade. I found the research fascinating. I'm sure all of you have smelled something and immediately remembered something linked to that smell. I can catch a whiff of Estee Lauder Youth Dew and my mom's face pops into my brain. That was her signature perfume when I was a kid.
Of all our senses, smell is the most primitive and is hard-wired into our brain which accounts for the smell-memory connection. Pheromones, those "invisible" smells account for probably 99% of love at first sight.
So here's my list of the 10 best smells in the world not in any particular order.
1. A freshly bathed baby
2. Crayola crayons
3. Johnson baby powder
4. New mown grass
5. Old-fashioned roses in the garden
6. My mom's homemade mayhaw jelly cooking on the stove
7. Chanel No. 5 (Love that old movie Seven Year Itch where Marilyn Monroe says: "That's their highest number.")
8. Clean clothes drying on a clothesline in the sun
9. Really old, single malt Scotch
10. Baking bread
Someone once asked MM what she wore to bed. "Chanel No.5" was supposedly her answer. LOVE IT!
ReplyDeleteGreat list! #4 & #8 especially because I do both.
Some of mine are
1)freshly ground and 2)freshly brewed coffee
3) pumpkin pies baking in the oven
4) fresh pine
5) campfires (using aged wood)
Oh, my, how could I leave off coffee from my list since I wouldn't exist a day without the beautiful black elixir. Just heard on the news tonight where medical studies show coffee may prevent liver cancer. Yes to fresh pine also.
ReplyDeleteI just wish some things TASTED as good as they smell, but here are mine:
ReplyDelete1. The smell of bread baking in the oven;
2. Freshly ground, freshly brewed coffee;
3. A freshly bathed baby;
4. Kitten breath and/or puppy breath;
5. Lemon oil furniture cleaner or lemon anything;
6. Pavlova perfume;
7. Jergens Lotion - the original. Always makes me think of my dearly loved great aunt Ida who always used it - it's the smell of security and the happiness of unconditional love;
8. Freshly squeezed orange juice;
9. Freshly washed, line-dried bedding;
10. Fresh cilantro or fresh basil. For that matter, any fresh herb!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh - what a nice, nostalgic way to end the week!
I just wish some things TASTED as good as they smell, but here are mine:
ReplyDelete1. The smell of bread baking in the oven;
2. Freshly ground, freshly brewed coffee;
3. A freshly bathed baby;
4. Kitten breath and/or puppy breath;
5. Lemon oil furniture cleaner or lemon anything;
6. Pavlova perfume;
7. Jergens Lotion - the original. Always makes me think of my dearly loved great aunt Ida who always used it - it's the smell of security and the happiness of unconditional love;
8. Freshly squeezed orange juice;
9. Freshly washed, line-dried bedding;
10. Fresh cilantro or fresh basil. For that matter, any fresh herb!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh - what a nice, nostalgic way to end the week!
I like the list! I posted on some too! I like the Fresh mown grass too!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGayle Miller, love the comment about your great aunt Ida.
ReplyDeleteAh….the sweet, smell of perfume! Today's market is flooded with hundreds and hundreds of different fragrances ranging
ReplyDeletefrom floral to woodsy. Most women love the smell of perfume, wearing it even when going to the grocery store. The problem
is that perfume allergy for some women, is anything but nice.
My favorites: a bonfire, freshly burnt match, clothes washed in downy, freshly baked cinnamon rolls, my husband's neck, fruity perfumes, gasoline fumes while filling up the car, my daughter's hair after a shower. mmmmm
ReplyDeletethe 4 best smells ever are: buttercream candles; victoria's secret "love spell" which is a blend of cherry blossom, peach, and white jasmine ; baking chocolate chip cookies; and mr. bubble, bubble bath.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree about those baking chocolate chip cookies!
ReplyDelete