smells and sounds

Do you associate smells with certain memories?  Because I really, really do, which is somewhat shocking to me, because I generally don't consider myself has having a particularly good memory.  But a great smell, man, can just send me rushing back to my past.  Some good ones off of the top of my head:

Chanel No. 5 -- My grandmother.  Until the day I die.

Pipe smoke -- My grandfather.  I hate smoking, but I love the smell of a pipe.  LOVE.

Vanilla -- My mom.  She used to bake a lot.

Old Spice -- My dad.  Again, from my childhood.  I don't think he wears it anymore.

Men's cologne in general -- Walking through the men's dorm on a Friday night.  Occasionally, when I was at university, I would have dinner at the student centre, and the fastest way to get there from my women's dorm was through the ground floor of the men's dorm.  I loved walking through there on Friday evenings because the halls were filled with the smell of men's cologne as they were getting ready for their dates, I presume.  I loved the idea that they were taking extra care.

On Monday mornings, the dorm generally returned to smelling like a combination of sweaty socks and regret.  So, you know, it was good while it lasted.

Sandy beaches -- Manzanilla, Mayaro, Trinidad.

Coconut -- summers in the United States.  It reminds me of suntan oil.

It's because of this that when I find a scent I like, I tend to wear only that scent, every day, for years.  I love the thought that as people come and go through my life, years from now, that scent will make them think of me.  And I especially love the idea that my daughter will associate that scent with me when she's an adult. 

Is that crazy?

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Because I've become intimidated by the thought of coming up with a new song every day for the rest of this month, I'm going to ask for some help (and hopefully avoid another Miley Cyrus debacle like yesterday): can you tell me your favourite song and artist in the comments below?  I'll happily find and listen to all of them -- I'm always on the hunt for new, good music -- and the ones I love I'll happily feature here on Chookooloonks, with credit to you, of course, and a link to your site, if you have one.

Thanks, all.  Have a great day.

Song: Right as rain by Adele

Image: a fountain I passed yesterday while walking home from voting.  Photographed with Nikon D300, 50mm manual lens.