It's amazing how a certain smell or sound or taste can take you someplace far, far away. For me, it's usually smells and sounds that bring me to different places. When I was in a small town in Vietnam nearly twenty years ago, I smelled something burning or cooking... It's very distinct and can't quite describe it, but an elder said it smelled like the days when people would burn dead bodies during the Vietnam War. There were just too many bodies to bury. I've come across that smell a couple of times since then, and it just feels eerie. And really hope I'm not smelling a human being roasted. Old, rotting wood and Corn nuts remind me of my old Chinese school on Stockton Street in SF... and unfortunately the stuffy Muni buses that take you from Chinatown to the Powell Street Bart Station.
This morning, my kids inadvertently turned the radio to the classical station. I do like classical, but listen to it pretty infrequently because I'm almost always sleepy and classical relaxes me a little too much. Surprisingly, I wasn't too tired to enjoy it this morning. And after I dropped them off at my mom's house, I selected 104.9 on my radio, and continued my classical morning. It just felt really nice and relaxing, making me think of vacationing in Austria and Germany in January. I don't know what it was about that vacation that made everything seem magical. Maybe it was the castles and clear lakes and snow capped mountains. Or perhaps the introduction of savory and sweet dishes or the best hot chocolate I've ever had. (Cafe Demel is the place to be.) Or enjoying the Christmas lights strung along narrow centuries old streets while your cheeks are flushed from the cold. Or the classical musical playing everywhere. It was everywhere, and it was delightful. And magical. So whenever I hear classical, I think of my brief wonderland in Eastern Europe, and I hope that I can share these wonderful moments with my husband and two children.
Hope your senses bring you to wonderful places too!
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