Smoke: tobacco burning, coal smoke, wood-fire smoke, leaf smoke. Most of all, leaf smoke. This is the only odor I can will back to consciousness just by thinking about it. I can sit in a chair, thinking, and call up clearly to mind the smell of burning autumn leaves, coded and stored away somewhere in a temporal lobe, firing off explosive signals into every part of my right hemisphere. But nothing else: if I try to recall the thick smell of Edinburgh in winter, or the accidental burning of a plastic comb, or a rose, or a glass of wine, I cannot do this; I can get a clear picture of any face I feel like remembering, and I can hear whatever Beethoven quartet I want to recall, but except for the leaf bonfire I cannot really remember a smell in its absence. To be sure, I know the odor of cinnamon or juniper and can name such things with accuracy when they turn up in front of my nose, but I cannot imagine them into existence.
~ Lewis Thomas, A Long Line of Cells: Collected Essays
Notes:
- Photo: Thank you Doug @ Electicitylight
- Related Posts: Lewis Thomas
Leaves burning, air that stings a little when inhaled, hugging a sweater around the shoulders and realizing how perfect it is.
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I can feel and smell your description. And just as I write this, a flock of geese passed overhead. Coincidence?
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The reptilian brain in action—scents evoke memory, not the other way around.
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Yes. That’s it Sandy.
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yes, one of my favorite sensory experiences. this is so well described here –
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It is.
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Another great post!
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Thank you Marlan
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You’re welcome!
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Now just a memory. Our leaves are vacuumed up at the curb by the township…it’s just not the same.
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Ugh!
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Omg, look at those earrings!
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Really? That’s what you notice!?!
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Laughing…
If I was in my grave this scent and the sound of leaves swirling would be the time I come back ❤
I was taught that only few people can bring back a smell at will from memory. This is beautiful David.
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OK. I feel better now.
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Have a beautiful Saturday 🙂
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Reblogged this on Bright, shiny objects! and commented:
David Kanigan never ceases to amaze me…
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Thank you Todd
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Wow, for some reason I didn’t see this post until now, but I love it. And I can smell the leaves! Olfactory memories are purportedly the strongest…this certainly bears that out.
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Yes, sure does Lori.
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