Thursday, September 15, 2011
Memory, all alone in the moonlight...
With the use of scents (the cedar tree) or songs ("The Lass of Aughrim") to trigger memories in Snow Falling on Cedars and "The Dead," I thought it would be interesting to ask what some songs or scents are that trigger memories for you? For me, the smell of freshly cut hay brings me back to my childhood living on a farm and the song "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry takes me back to sitting at my father's feet as a young child listening to him play what I thought was some pretty heavy rock n' roll on his acoustic guitar. Anyhow, I am looking forward to your imagery presentations on Monday (and breakfast, of course!).
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I have so many sights and sounds that remind me of other memories that I have from the past. Right away, I can remember one scent that reminds me of my grandma and grandpa's house in Wisconsin, and that would be wood smoke. My grandparents only own a wood stove, so I constantly remember about the times when I was little and I went to their house to visit, and they had their wood stove burning inside by their cozy little kitchen. It seems like constantly, even throughout the summer, they would have a fire burning to keep the house comfortable. Whenever I would walk into their house, I would be overwhelmed with the rustic smell of burning wood. A song that I can connect to a memory very well would be Carrie Underwood's song Before He Cheats. I was in the eighth grade when this song was very popular, and I can remember having to write an essay about it (which totally ruined the song). I also remember being at Sharkey Hot Springs with our basketball team, and my friend was dared to run around the snowy hot springs with no shoes, in the dark, in her bathing suit, singing the entire song while shivering and soaking wet. Now, every time that I hear that song, I can picture my friend running in the snow and the dark screeching it.
ReplyDeleteFor me, a very strong memory trigger is sourdough batter. It reminds me of my grandpa so much because every single Sunday after church my grandpa makes sourdough waffles along with a surplus of scrambled, eggs, and sausage. I remember coming up on weekends during the summer before I lived in Salmon and we would always leave on Sunday after my grandpa cooked his famous sourdough waffles. It makes my grandpa so happy to make waffles for his family. I definitely don't have near as many songs that make me reminisce but one in particular would be "Travelin' Soldier" by Dixie Chicks. It's really depressing so listening to it once a century is enough for me. While my dad was stationed in Iraq, my mom used to sing it to my youngest sister, Kaylie, who was 2 when my dad was deployed. I remember every night for over three years my mom sang Kaylie to sleep with that song. Every time I hear that song I think of my mom laying next to Kaylie at night and singing it.
ReplyDeleteSmells constantly trigger memories for me as do songs. Hero by Enrique Iglesias reminds me of my first prom freshman year. It brings a flood of fun memorise from that night and always makes me smile. The smell of pecan rolls triggers memories of Christmas. Every Christmas, since I can remember, my Aunt Julie has made her special pecan rolls bringing them over early in the morning. Every Christmas we went through our stockings with that yummy smell wafting into the room.
ReplyDeleteHollis:
ReplyDeleteSmells are all around, and always triggering me back to my childhood. The most frequent is, well, cow manuer. It's strange but it reminds me of visiting my cousins here, in Salmon, before I lived here. All the cousins would just run up and down the mountain road. We were so free, we called ourselves the forest warriors! I'm not the biggest music lover, but I do appreciate the memories they can bring back. The song "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison reminds of sitting in the car, and my aunt telling my sister that the beginning silently said something about a blue eyed girl, because Tate was upset that the song was about me.