I
have a tube of body lotion by Lancome called Hydra Fraichelle
“invigorating” body lotion. What is most “invigorating” about
it is the smell. It’s one of those scents that makes you want to
take a deep, deep breath when you smell it and then let it linger in
your senses – and then you take another deep, whiff.
We
all have favorite smells. I love this one because every time I smell
this lotion I think of my favorite grandma (maternal grandmother). I
was only eighteen when Grandma Williams died, and I’m 75 now, so
you’d think her memory would be practically non-existent by now,
but not so. Her memory is as vivid as though I spent time with her
yesterday. She was poor and she and my grandpa lived in a converted
shed when I was little, with a kerosene lamp, a wood-burning stove
for cooking and an ice box – oh, and no running water. But the
times I stayed overnight with her are my best, best memories. I
couldn’t have cared less how comfortable (or uncomfortable) it was.
The love I felt there made up for all the inconveniences, and for a
little girl, staying with grandma was an adventure.
Certain
scents can be so calming, and we writers have to remember to use the
sense of smell in our work. Describing scents can bring a scene to
life and help a reader picture the moment – or a room – or a
garden – or a person. I have often used the term – “He smelled
like leather and sage and the out-of-doors.” I absolutely love that
description. It makes me picture a man’s man – someone rugged and
strong and able to take care of himself and his woman.
The
smell of fresh-cooking pasta and sauce instantly brings to mind my
Sicilian grandmother, who made her own pasta at home. I used to love
watching her crank those strings of pasta from a wad of fresh dough
through a special grinder. Then she would spread it out to dry. I can
tell you without reservation that NOTHING you buy in a grocery store
can REMOTELY compare to the taste and smell of fresh-made pasta.
NOTHING.
And
smell is deeply related to taste. How can you beat the smell of
freshly-baking, homemade bread? That’s something else you just want
to hold up to your nose and take deep breaths of it – fresh, hot
bread. And there is nothing like the taste of a piece of that bread
right out of the oven and smothered in real butter! My maternal
grandmother used to make her own bread, and – oh - pie dough! Just
the dough – flattened out and smeared with butter, cinnamon and
sugar and baked. That’s better than any elephant ear you can buy!
Husbands
and wives also have their own unique scents. My husband always smells
good, and it’s his own particular scent – not any particular
after-shave because he has several different kinds. It’s just his
own particular scent that I can’t quite describe but that I know is
my husband. When he rode away in a bus for basic training for the
Army after we first married, I slept with one of his shirts every
night, just so it felt like he was near me.
Old
books – there’s another wonderful scent! What reader doesn’t
like the smell of walking into a used-book store, or a library? Have
you ever just opened an old book and put it to your nose and sniffed?
I immediately hear voices from the past. I immediately “see” life
as it used to be. At the same time, I love the smell of a new book,
too – the kind with shiny, silky pages. I remember how much I used
to love opening a new schoolbook at the beginning of a school year.
Walk
into a store that sells leather – purses, belts, jackets, boots,
whatever. Right away you can see a handsome cowboy astride a
beautiful horse with a leather saddle – the cowboy wearing a
leather gun belt and leather vest and leather gloves and boots. What
a rich, wonderful smell leather has. I have a leather dashboard and
leather seats in my Jeep Gr. Cherokee, and when the weather is warm
and the sun heats up all that leather, I can smell it when I get
inside. I just sit there and breathe deeply for a moment.
And
then there is the calming smell of lavender. If you are anxious or
depressed or unable to sleep, just hold a sachet of lavender to your
nose, and all your worries just vanish. And again, you just want to
breathe in that smell as deeply as possible.
I
have some hot pads that are like little bean bags filled with the
scent of cinnamon. When you set something hot on them, it wakes up
the cinnamon. What a wonderful smell! Sometimes I just hold those
soft hotpads to my nose and breathe.
And
is there anyone out there who doesn’t like the smell of lilacs? You
can smell lilacs a mile away. And the minute you smell them, you
think spring and Easter and sunshine and green grass and “purple,”
which brings to mind colors. My favorite color is purple, the
predominant color in my bedroom and bathroom.
And
is there anyone out there who doesn’t like the smell of lilacs? You
can smell lilacs a mile away. And the minute you smell them, you
think spring and Easter and sunshine and green grass and “purple,”
which brings to mind colors. My favorite color is purple, the
predominant color in my bedroom and bathroom.
A
citrus smell makes us think “clean” and bright and healthy.
What
are your favorite smells? If you are a writer, it only makes “sense”
to use “scents” in your stories. It brings the story and the
characters to life!
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
COMING THE END OF JUNE:
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