I returned home absolutely exhausted both physically and mentally. All I wanted to do is take a one hour nap in the late afternoon and just turn off my brain for an hour. The rejuvenating effect of this simple nap was beyond description and its merits were both refreshing and therapeutic.
I wanted to come home and write this afternoon. I feel completely refreshed but I feel like my brain just turned completely off. I could not think of a single thing to say, and for native New Yorker — that’s saying something. I never have a loss of words but today I have drawing an absolute blank. But perhaps, that’s my brain’s way of resetting or I’m just getting old. I’m undecided in that regard, and again perhaps it’s both.
It turns out that I was just a bit hungry. A chicken salad sandwich on whole grain toast and a half of a kosher dill pickle this would help to break the spell of my brain fog. What I found strange was the effect that the taste of the pickle had on my memory. For some odd reason the taste and the smell of the pickle brought me back to my childhood standing next to my mother at the counter of the German deli that had a 55 gallon plastic barrel of pickles. The pickles were huge and I think the reason that my mother bought me the pickles was to keep me quiet for about 10 minutes, the pickles were tremendous the pickles were about the size of a hot dog bun. They were big, juicy, and crisp. The garlic and vinegar had a perfect balance. The smell of the deli was magical. Everyone has seen scenes in films of New York City delis but what you can never imagine are the symphony of smells.
The German deli smelled like pickles and bologna. The family who owned the deli lived directly above the deli. But every deli had a completely different smell. The Italian deli always smells like salami, garlic, and aged cheeses that hung from the ceiling. Just down the road over the county line there was a kosher deli and I recall that it always smelled like corned beef, pastrami, and potato knishes on the grill.
It’s strange yet magical how a scent can transport you across time and space to a particular moment. I hadn’t thought about that German deli for decades. I’m not even sure if it’s still there. I can remember my father would bring back wiener schnitzel and red cabbage from that same German deli after he had a few beers in the Irish pub across the street.
I find it intriguing that a simple taste or smell can trigger long forgotten but vivid memories. But reflecting back, perhaps we don’t pay enough attention to our other senses as much as we do our eyes and ears. Perhaps we need to pay more attention to what we smell, to what we taste, and to what we touch.
Human beings are the product of all five senses. But how often do we actually pay attention to the ambient smells around us, the actual taste of our food beyond just “like or dislike”, how often do we pay close attention to textures, the breeze, or temperature? These things have characteristics all of their own. And as conscious beings we should pay more attention beyond simply being on autopilot moving from task to task.
What smell or taste awakens your deepest memories?
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