Welcome! We're continuing with the daily prompts in the Bloganuary blog challenge 2023. Today's question is "Do you have a memory that’s linked to a smell?" This is an interesting one for sure. It seems to imply awareness of the fact that olfactory input is the sense most strongly associated with memories. (I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere...) Anyway, I spent a little while trying to think of a good example for me. Finally, I remembered a good but strange one.
There are several species of wild mint plants in the eastern US, including a small one called water mint or swamp mint. It has small purple flower clusters on spikes and it smells absolutely divine. Near my old house, there was a wetlands park along the river area. Swamp mint grew there like crazy. It was everywhere.
Unlike my current self, my child self was very adventurous and quite "in tune" with being in nature. I absolutely loved the wetlands park. I had so many little adventures there. Often, as a ran around playing, I would step on some patches of swamp mint. It's no surprise that I now associate the smell of swamp mint with being an energetic, adventurous child. It makes me nostalgic. By the way, I wish I could describe exactly how this plant smells. It's only mildly minty, with a very rich earthy fragrance. I can't put it into words that sound good right now. Anyway, the memory of playing in the wetlands will always come to mind whenever I find and smell wild mint plants.
Thanks for reading~