Christmas Smells

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Some of my favorite activities and memories are held during the holiday season.
As someone who goes to college in a different state, coming back home for winter
break makes it even more meaningful. It’s a time to catch up with my family, enjoy
home-cooked meals, annoy my siblings, and sometimes find some peace and quiet
during the busy holiday season.

My Mom's Santa 
One of my favorite things about the time
leading up to Christmas is how my mom
burns incense. It's always a comforting
smell to me. Maybe it's because I have grown
up Catholic so I am used to it, but it just adds
that extra Christmas feeling. I've caught
myself saying, "it smells like Christmas" when
I walk into the house and my mom has lit
the little Santa.








My parents 

Even when it is not winter, the smell of incense
makes me think of being home at Christmas time.
I can hear my dad complaining to my mom that
the smell gives him a headache. I can hear my mom
laughing and getting all happy to bring out the little
Santa. It gives me a warm feeling inside. It's a feeling
of nostalgia for being home with my parents and
the excitement of Christmas.




Diane Ackerman writes in her book A Natural History of the Senses, that “smells detonate softly in our memory like poignant land mines, hidden under the weedy mass of many years and experiences.” (Ackerman 1) She also writes about her own aromatic memories about eucalyptus groves and vapor as a scent. She says, “yet, to my nose, it was Illinois in the 1950s. It was a school day; I was tucked in bed, safe, and cosseted, feeling my mother massage my chest with Vicks VaproRub.” (Ackerman 19) Just like me and incense, eucalyptus triggers memories of her own mother taking care of her when she was sick. Ackerman said that it added “serenity to the hours of sitting quietly in the forest” (Ackerman 19) just like it gave me nostalgia and warm feelings.

Comments

  1. Jonathan Brumberg-KrausMarch 30, 2020 at 8:06 AM

    Nice reflection, Maura. You really pick up on the power of smell especially to trigger other sensory associations and memories. Your own comments clearly illustrate the quote you so aptly pipicked from Ackerman, your own images are as evocative.

    ReplyDelete

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