Time

There are so many ways to mark time. For example, the scent of Country Apple body lotion from Bath and Body Works will always remind me of my freshman year in high school. It was a sweet time, just like the scent, and so it seems fitting. A particular fragrance can definitely put a stamp on time, but so can music. Let's see- Yes, there were the "Counting Crows/Dave Matthew's Band" years. Again sweet but also sullen. Then there were the "Pink Floyd" years. Not so sweet but fun as hell. The list goes on and on, and each song can send me back to a particular point in time, good or bad, but remembered nonetheless. We can also mark time with the 3 F's- friends, food, and fashion. Lately it seems everything reminds me of something from my past. A smell, a song, a taste, a person, a dance, or a dress- they all have an equal possibility of taking me back, and frankly, sometimes I don't want to go there, but other times those memories feel so close, so familiar that I take another sniff, I turn up the volume, I take another bite, or I steal one more glance. One thing is certain, time keeps right on moving, and if we don't stop and use our senses to bookmark events, all we will have are pictures and for me that is just not enough.

4 comments:

Katie said...

I'm pretty sure all that sullenness during the Counting Crows/ Dave Matthews years stressed my mom out. I loved it though!

Mama Kate said...

It was so fun to be sad back then. It made me feel "real."

Anonymous said...

It's so funny you posted this because just 2 days ago there was a forest fire and the smell took me immediately back to the Fires of '98. So I told Rob the whole story of how me, you, and Katie were trying to get to our Comp Class in St. A, but I95 was closed down. However, that didn't stop you and your beloved Topaz from trying to get past the cops blocking the entryway... do you remember that? So funny! Good times!

Mama Kate said...

I do remember that summer. The summer of Fire and Freedom. It was great!