Follow Your Nose

It's true what they say; smell is the strongest sense of memory. I can't count how often I will be somewhere, smell something and be taken back to a specific, long ago moment in time and space. There are a few particular scents that I come across more often than others.

One smell that often comes back to me is this soapy, eucalyptus scent that matches the smell of a bubble bath I used as a child. As soon as my nose registers it, I'm immediately placed in the bathtub at my grandparents' apartment. I'm four. It's after school, before dinner and I've just finished watching Power Rangers. This was my daily ritual until I was about eight years old. I still watch Power Rangers, though. On occasion.

The next smell I encounter less often but it's all the more wonderful when I come across it. I last smelled it this summer while in the elevator at the 92nd street YMCA as I was headed to the gym. I entered the elevator and behind me entered a man who appeared to be a few years older than me. He had the distinct smell of my preschool. It was that unique combination of dish soap, water based paint and sand box. I'm not sure if it was his deodorant, his detergent or if he actually worked with small children, but he was coated in this wonderful smell. I had to restrain myself from pressing my nose into his shirt. That would have been awkward.

This last smell pops up fairly often. It's the smell of books, specifically my paperback copy of The Lord of the Rings. Strangely enough, last week something in the bathroom on my floor smelled distinctly of the pages of Tolkin's volumes. I was instantly brought back to the first time I read it in 7th grade, over winter break by the afternoon light that streamed into my parents' bedroom.

I wish I could bottle these and create my own perfume line. I'd call it Memory. I'd make millions. But then again, memories like those are priceless.