Smells like pisnash, . . . smisnash, . . . POT ROAST!!! With green gravy.

I was walking by the library yesterday when I caught a familiar aroma from my childhood - freshly lit Marlboro Reds. I don't smoke, nor do I like the smell of cigarette smoke (especially when it gets on my clothes or hair), but I do like the smell of a fresh burning Marlboro. It's the only brand I like the smell of, and only when it's still burning, I hate all the rest. I'm pretty sure that's because Marlboro was the brand my dad smoked when I was growing up, so I have memories associated with that smell (it's well documented that olfaction has significant ties to memory - it's how migrating salmon are able to get back to their rearing grounds to spawn - just had to throw that in cuz I'm a nerd).

My mom didn't approve of my dad's smoking habit, so he never smoked in the house, or anywhere around her for that matter. However, he didn't have any reservations about lighting up in front of us when she wasn't around. Almost every time I smell Marlboro Reds it reminds me of driving through the mountains with my dad because that's usually where we spent the most time without my mom around.

I got thinking about the other odors that remind me of things from my youth. Here's a list of a few that I came up with. I'm interested in seeing if others have the same ones (my guess is probably not, unless you're related to me, or crazy).

• Bubble gum reminds me of Little League and the bubble gum flavored ice cream we used to be able to get at Coaches Gallery (an arcade that really did have a typo in the name), or the feeling of opening up a new package of baseball cards (or Return of the Jedi cards - convinced I'm a nerd yet? Keep reading).
• Cooking roast beef always reminds me of Sundays around the house - my mom would have that in the crock pot for Sunday dinner at least once a month.
• Freshly cut grass reminds me of my summer spent mowing lawns (what else?).
• Motor oil and grease reminds me of my oldest brother and his friends who were always tinkering with their cars. Oddly enough, so does the smell of burning rubber.
• The smell of soil reminds me of weeding the garden with my brothers and sisters - that or my first job, which was picking rocks out of a farmer's field for a whopping $2 per hour the summer between 3rd and 4th grades (child labor laws be damned).
• Exhaust from a weed eater or similar piece of equipment always reminds me of cutting firewood with my parents .
• The smell of wood smoke reminds me of cold winter days.
• The smell of dandelions reminds me of playing with my brothers and sisters at the park - we used to rub them on our arms to make them yellow.
• The coppery smell of blood reminds me of my job cleaning a meat packing plant (ok, that's one I don't smell too often any more - thank goodness).
• The smell of rotten milk and mildew reminds me of living with my ex-wife (wait, that wasn't my childhood, but it's basically the smell of a sink full of dishes that have been sitting for a while, and sadly enough, really does remind me of her).
• The smell of chlorine reminds me of when we were bad and my mom used to pour bleach on our eyes (ok fine, I made that up - how about swimming at the pool?).