SeaCat
Hey, my Halo is smoking
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2003
- Posts
- 15,378
Have you ever had it when a song or a smell just kick starts a memory? I do on occasion.
Have you heard a song and remembered what you were doing when you first heard that song? Have you smelled something and remembered what you were doing when you last smelled that particular odor?
This happens to me from time to time and I usually enjoy the memories. It's a cheap form of time travel.
I'll give you a couple of recent examples.
A couple of weeks ago we were in a cold snap down here in southern Florida. For us it got cold. Early one morning the wife and I had to go somewhere so I grabbed a leather coat I have had for years. It's a Bomber Jacket and is nice and warm. It has also been well scented from being worn for way too many years. I pulled that on and we stepped outside into the chilly air.
Have you ever smelled that cold air first thing in the morning? It's crisp and clean with just a hint of Ozone? A wonderful smell. We stepped outside and I locked the door behind me then took in a nice lungful of air. Then it hit me. The smell of the well worn leather accompanied by the clean smell of the cold air, it brought me back to that day my wife and I truly met.
It was late January and cold. We had seen each other around campus but didn't really click. We were too different. I lived about fifteen miles from the college and had a car. She lived about thirty miles from the college and rode the bus. I was a redneck and proud of it. I wore Jeans and Flannel Shirts and a Cowboy Hat. She was prim and proper wearing long skirts and high collared blouses. I was loud and violent and she was quiet.
On the day we truly met we had both come to school for our classes. A storm was forecast to come in but that's nothing new in New England. During the first classes the storm grew in intensity as the temperature dropped. By second class the snow was falling and blowing around. It was getting nasty. Finally around noon it was announced that we were getting hit by a major storm and afternoon classes were canceled. I tarried a bit having some coffee with friends and talking with a professor about a project I was working on. By the time I was ready to leave the weather was truly nasty. I pulled on my Bomber Jacket and slapped my hat on my head as I headed for my car.
I was driving an ancient 1974 Chevy Impalla at the time and it took a few cranks to get it running. I let it sit for a bit as the engine warmed and I cleaned off the windows. By the time I climbed back inside I was half frozen and my nose hairs were solid, but the engine was warm and the heater was working. I eased out of the parking lot and drove through the grounds until I hit the main road.
AS I stopped at the exit from the school and checked for traffic I saw her standing in the corner of the bus stop trying to stay out of the wind. I didn't recognise her at first but I couldn't let someone stand in that cold. I parked the car and invited her to sit inside it while she waited for the bus. After an hour had passed and no bus had shown up we decided that something was wrong. We drove back into the school and checked only to find out all busses had been canceled. Now she was stranded. (We had to use an outside Pay Phone to find this out.) By this time she was half frozen and worried about how she was going to get home.
I slipped out of my Bomber and gave it to her while telling her to get in the car. By this time even in my jacket I was half frozen but what the hell?
When we were back in the car I asked her wheere she lived and winced when she told me. She not only lived thrity miles away but to get there I would have to go over one of the bridges in high winds. This was going to suck. Oh well.
Off we went. I drove her home in one of the worst storms since the Blizzard of '78. To say conditions were bad would be an understatement, it took me more than an hour to drive the 30 miles to her place. I had the heater going on full blast the entire time but it was still cold in the car when we finally pulled up in front of her parents house. She thanked me for the ride and ran inside still wearing my jacket.
It took me over an hour to get home and I just made it over the bridge before they closed it. When I finally pulled into the driveway I was half frozen and cursing my luck.
School was closed for the rest of the week as we dug out. When classes started again I had resigned myself to having lost my coat.
Soon after classes started again I saw her once more on campus, she was wearing my coat and walking arm in arm with some Jock Type. I just kind of shrugged and chalked it up to a lifes lesson. Then she saw me in the cafeteria and came over to talk with me. On a whim I asked her to go out to dinner with me and she hesitantly accepted.
During dinner that weekend she admitted to going out with the Jock, and then told me she didn't really like him. Their going out had been set up by her parents. She was also afraid of him.
After that we went out on several more dates and started getting along quite well. Her Boyfriend was taken care of and her parents were introduced to me.
That was 17 years ago now and we're still together. We also still have that Bomber Jacket.
Cat
Have you heard a song and remembered what you were doing when you first heard that song? Have you smelled something and remembered what you were doing when you last smelled that particular odor?
This happens to me from time to time and I usually enjoy the memories. It's a cheap form of time travel.
I'll give you a couple of recent examples.
A couple of weeks ago we were in a cold snap down here in southern Florida. For us it got cold. Early one morning the wife and I had to go somewhere so I grabbed a leather coat I have had for years. It's a Bomber Jacket and is nice and warm. It has also been well scented from being worn for way too many years. I pulled that on and we stepped outside into the chilly air.
Have you ever smelled that cold air first thing in the morning? It's crisp and clean with just a hint of Ozone? A wonderful smell. We stepped outside and I locked the door behind me then took in a nice lungful of air. Then it hit me. The smell of the well worn leather accompanied by the clean smell of the cold air, it brought me back to that day my wife and I truly met.
It was late January and cold. We had seen each other around campus but didn't really click. We were too different. I lived about fifteen miles from the college and had a car. She lived about thirty miles from the college and rode the bus. I was a redneck and proud of it. I wore Jeans and Flannel Shirts and a Cowboy Hat. She was prim and proper wearing long skirts and high collared blouses. I was loud and violent and she was quiet.
On the day we truly met we had both come to school for our classes. A storm was forecast to come in but that's nothing new in New England. During the first classes the storm grew in intensity as the temperature dropped. By second class the snow was falling and blowing around. It was getting nasty. Finally around noon it was announced that we were getting hit by a major storm and afternoon classes were canceled. I tarried a bit having some coffee with friends and talking with a professor about a project I was working on. By the time I was ready to leave the weather was truly nasty. I pulled on my Bomber Jacket and slapped my hat on my head as I headed for my car.
I was driving an ancient 1974 Chevy Impalla at the time and it took a few cranks to get it running. I let it sit for a bit as the engine warmed and I cleaned off the windows. By the time I climbed back inside I was half frozen and my nose hairs were solid, but the engine was warm and the heater was working. I eased out of the parking lot and drove through the grounds until I hit the main road.
AS I stopped at the exit from the school and checked for traffic I saw her standing in the corner of the bus stop trying to stay out of the wind. I didn't recognise her at first but I couldn't let someone stand in that cold. I parked the car and invited her to sit inside it while she waited for the bus. After an hour had passed and no bus had shown up we decided that something was wrong. We drove back into the school and checked only to find out all busses had been canceled. Now she was stranded. (We had to use an outside Pay Phone to find this out.) By this time she was half frozen and worried about how she was going to get home.
I slipped out of my Bomber and gave it to her while telling her to get in the car. By this time even in my jacket I was half frozen but what the hell?
When we were back in the car I asked her wheere she lived and winced when she told me. She not only lived thrity miles away but to get there I would have to go over one of the bridges in high winds. This was going to suck. Oh well.
Off we went. I drove her home in one of the worst storms since the Blizzard of '78. To say conditions were bad would be an understatement, it took me more than an hour to drive the 30 miles to her place. I had the heater going on full blast the entire time but it was still cold in the car when we finally pulled up in front of her parents house. She thanked me for the ride and ran inside still wearing my jacket.
It took me over an hour to get home and I just made it over the bridge before they closed it. When I finally pulled into the driveway I was half frozen and cursing my luck.
School was closed for the rest of the week as we dug out. When classes started again I had resigned myself to having lost my coat.
Soon after classes started again I saw her once more on campus, she was wearing my coat and walking arm in arm with some Jock Type. I just kind of shrugged and chalked it up to a lifes lesson. Then she saw me in the cafeteria and came over to talk with me. On a whim I asked her to go out to dinner with me and she hesitantly accepted.
During dinner that weekend she admitted to going out with the Jock, and then told me she didn't really like him. Their going out had been set up by her parents. She was also afraid of him.
After that we went out on several more dates and started getting along quite well. Her Boyfriend was taken care of and her parents were introduced to me.
That was 17 years ago now and we're still together. We also still have that Bomber Jacket.
Cat
