Monday, October 22, 2007

Smartie-Pants


Just a few odds and ends... It is supposed to hit 80 degrees today. Eighty! It's October 22nd! I can handle this kind of Fall.

Sense memories... of all kinds. Think of the name you can't stand, and suddenly remember that a kid with that name bullied you in grade school. I look back at yearbooks now and realize that that imposing figure was a third-grader. A black and white photograph that H took when we visited Quebec years ago - the starkness of it reminding me that we were freezing our hineys off. I think it was the weekend of Canadian Thanksgiving, and it was cold! The smell of burning wood takes me to 4th of July bonfires in our backyards in Michigan. Ditto for the sugary scent of marshmallows, ripe for the toasting.

Anytime I pass by The Food Network and happen upon the program Unwrapped, I always get sucked in... there is something fascinating about the behind the scenes of how things get made. A recent episode dealt with some Halloween candy, and I loved learning about Smarties. Smarties remind me of my Grandma B. She always had them in her purse. Probably great for keeping kids like me quiet in church, as I would sit and eat one tiny little sugary bit at a time.

What items/experiences send you down memory lane?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used Smarties for my kids just yesterday when I needed them to stay quiet while I was on an important phone call.

Kool-aid sends me down memory lane. We rarely have it here, but made some the other day for a treat. It was grape and I licked the spoon after I got done stirring it and man ... I felt 7 again and I could almost smell the house I grew up in and the feeling I always had drinking it as a kid.

Anonymous said...

The smell of cantelope. I always picture running into my Granny's house with the screen door slamming shut, finding a metal bowl full of cut cantelope. Then running back outside to sit on her porch to eat it. Usually my bare feet were dirty.

My Grandmother always used double mint gum to keep us quiet in church. That or the evil eye. Both worked.