The Scent of Memory
I wonder if this only applies to myself or if it applies to everyone else around the world. But in my life I associate certain memories with smell. For some reason it’s normally a location or a specific time of my life in a locations.
This morning there was humidity in the air, creating a much denser smelling air? If that makes any sense. As I was letting the dogs out to use the bathroom, it lite a mosquito coil. With the snow leaving and temperatures rising; we’ve seen mosquitos again.
Once lit, I took it outside to put in its holder. The combination of humid air and mosquito coil, almost instantly reminded me of my brother and I in Saitama, in our temporary home, in a little area called Bessho.
The last couple of weeks we were there, it was storming a lot, humidity was incredibly high and the mosquitos there were not to be fooled with.
Although a crazy time in our lives, its become a fond memory for me. It was the first “house” we lived in Japan that was not ours. It was the first house that was “ours” that our mom and dad visited and it’s where my brother and I dealt with many of our past issues with our old home. It was for a little while our safe place.
Our lives have been filled with chaos, to be completely honest, but when a memory like this happens or is triggered, it almost always makes me happy. TO know that my brother and I have overcome so many obstacles together, makes me proud, happy and nostalgic of the things and places we’ve had and been.
I think accompanying the memory the smell triggered was feelings of fondness for our old town and the friends who we left behind.
Moving is never easy, and moving to another country is honestly even harder.
When we arrived in Japan, our friend Mayuko drove us from Narita, Airport to Tokigawa-machi. An almost 5 hour drive (she is amazing). Getting there at the time we did, we thought that we had moved into a ghost town. No real street lights, the homes were all dark and due to the lack of visibility everything and I mean everything looked closed.
Getting to our house (finally), the low glow of our front door light and entering i’ll never forget it.
The first couple of weeks was rough, getting to know the area, walking and honestly the town was large and small at the same time so it made regular life things a little more challenging. Our first house and most of the memories associated with it, is almost always triggered by lavender and specifically a home deodorizer used a lot in convenience stores in Japan. When I smell this, it instantly takes me to the first couple of days of us moving to Japan. Incredibly strong core memories for me.
In any case for myself to read later;
The smell of humid air mixed with mosquito coil; always (at least up to this point) reminds me of the Bessho house, my brother and I running in and out to go to the convenience store or taking a walk around the neighborhood. It also reminds me of waking up, opening the sliding glass door and enjoying coffee with our mom while we got ready for the day. Although mostly representing a transitional period in life for us, it’s one that start off rough but ended beautifully.
The smell of lavender will always remind me of the first couple of days after moving to Japan. Our house was closed for so long but the air fresheners used always kept it smelling of lavender. It will remind me of waking up freezing (because I ordered the wrong blankets) and us huddled in the ginkan area because I also didnt get us a table in time, eating breakfast Ry made for us.
I will continue, either by choice or subconsciously continue to make memories using smell. Not sure why, but it has become a norm for me.
Well I hope those of you who are reading enjoyed a walk down memory lane with me. I really enjoyed writing this and it’s been an amazing way to start my day.
Thanks for stopping by and see you in the next one!
