Monday, June 4, 2012

Sounds of Summer

I have been told that smell is the one sense that can take you back to an earlier time faster than any other. I recall several years ago walking into my elementary school and smelling certain smells associated with grade schools and suddenly I was transported back to being 6 years old again.



I was near a lake recently and smelled gasoline from a passing motor boat. Suddenly I remembered vacations in Canada as a child when we went to Lake Superior. I remember my grandfather's 7 1/2 horse Johnson Seahorse motor.



Another smell that takes me instantly back to my childhood is the smell of a pipe. My grandfather smoked a pipe. I always liked it a lot. In fact another person I liked a lot as a child smoked a pipe, too.



Still .... there are certain sounds that can instantly take me back to an earlier time in my life.

Here's one of them. Speaking of "here" -- here's to summer! The instant you hear the first chords of this song you KNOW what it is. (If you don't, leave this blog as you are not mature enough to be here!)


4 comments:

Hilary said...

No doubt smell can bring us back in a heartbeat but I agree about songs. There are so many songs that scream "SUMMER!" and The Beach Boys had a lot of those. Fun post, Russell. Happy almost-summer. :)

A Lady's Life said...

Love the Beach boys
Those were great summers listening to their music :)

Jo said...

I absolutely LOVE the sound of a motorboat on a lake on a summer afternoon. It takes me right back to Sproat Lake and hot summer days.

For some reason, I also love the sound of a chain saw in the forest. It reminds me of when my parents cleared their land to build their house, and then all their neighbours did the same thing. It was sort of comforting. Strange, hey?

Biddy Fraser said...

Loved the Beachboys. I'm a 'seventies' music girl myself (with a dash of the 'eighties'. And you are so right about scent - it is very evocative.

The tilted room below this post looks very interesting. I wonder if there's a short story in that?