When I was a kid, every night after dinner, we got in our Chevrolet and went for a drive to get either ice cream or Mr. Williams's snow cones. I don't care for ice cream, but I have great memories of the drives. I liked
the the snow cone better. Mr. Williams served the snow cones out of his house, so we had to drive down a narrow New Orleans street in this humongous Chevvie.Always an adventure. One thing I liked about the trip was the scent of sweet olive trees in bloom.
I associate scents with places and events. I still smell these great smells . I also think of food smells with places. When Bob got out of the Air Force, we settled in Chicago in a rental apartment on Sheridan Road. The halls were permently scented with Kosher
smells. How we were lucky enough to find this place when we had no idea of neighboroods, I don't know. That hallway was a lesson in Judaica. chicken soup, garlic ,fish. It was a little overpowering, but also comforting to a kid who had not lived that far from
home.
Later we inhaled the scent of moth balls from Mrs. Shaws' apartment in Evanston, Il. Then I discovered Good Will and that particular scent of used clothes. Libraries have their own smell and schools. Schools
used to smell of chalk but now they smell of adolescent angst. In the early morning, with Cricket, I smell New Orleans or Colorado. This is a nice way to start a day. I haven't figured out a Florida smell, yet. I've only lived here 10 years. Maybe when I get
used to this place, I can develop it's scent. Some things you just can't rush.
Is this why dogs sniff each other!