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Sunday, August 9, 2009

The Smell of Summer


Just spent a week on Martha's Vineyard where there were lots sounds that I love, so I thought I'd pick up where Danielle left off.

Sounds I love:
1. Birds chirping very early in the morning (but not roosters! there's a huge difference and I've woken up to both)
2. My kids laughing
3. Absolute silence
4. A breeze rustling tree leaves
5. The crunching of gravel on a driveway

Sounds I hate:
1. The alarm clock
2. Kids whining
3. Anything that squeaks incessantly (like a door)

There are also smells I love and hate, and that's probably why when I'm writing, of all the senses, I like to incorporate smells. A smell can transport me.
- This past week I walked by someone who was wearing a scent that immediately made me remember a specific time and place.
- I ran past a house one morning and someone inside was making bacon for breakfast and it made me want to knock on their door and join them. It smelled so cozy and homey.
- Beach houses smell a certain way, a little damp and sandy, although I don't think I'd want my real house to smell that way all the time.
- I love the way my husband's skin smells when he's sweating (that probably sounds gross, but I love it).
- I can remember exactly how my old boyfriends all smelled.
- And to this day, when I walk into my best friend's house, it smells exactly like it used to when I lived in Chicago and came back to Boston to visit her. And I still get just as excited to walk through her door, as if I hadn't seen her in months, even if it's only been a couple of days.

So which sense is your favorite to use when writing?

1 comment:

Jan Blazanin said...

When I smell a lake it reminds me of all the camping trips my family took when I was growing up. And there's a certain smell after it rains sometimes that takes me back to hunting in the dark for "night crawlers" to use for fishing.