TheBanyanTree: Memories come from strange places

[Russ Doden]

A while back (about a month or so ago) I bought an oil radiator space
heater to help keep my office a bit warmer.  The front room of my home is
my office and it is always colder than the rest of the house in the winter
so extra help to keep it comfortable is not a bad thing.

Some of the reviews I had read had mentioned a slight odor from them, as
had a few friends.  Nothing noxious, just a faint odor.  I hadn't noticed
it before, but today I'm smelling it.

The funny thing is, I found myself sitting here trying to place the smell.
Not identify where it came from, but more trying to figure out where I had
smelled that scent before.  It finally came to me like a a quick jump
through the way back machine.    Yes that is an oblique reference to the
cartoon series of Sherman and his dog Peabody (and the dog was the Science
brain of the two).

I think every city may have some "odor" that is more dominant   In Tulsa,
the main "smell" if you could say there is an odor that is most common, is
the refinery or tank farm smell (especially on the west side).  The scent
of crude oil and associated refinery odors is unique.  It is most
noticeable when on the west side of town especially on humid days.  Anyhow,
when I was a kid living in eastern Iowa the main smell I associate with
Cedar Rapids was, (drum roll please) Quaker Oats.

No, not the cooked cereal.  The smell from the Quaker Oats plant of the
oats being heated to drive off moisture prior to milling!  When you went to
the part of Cedar Rapids (the city closest to where I lived when in Iowa)
and were over by the river, among all the industries there (and there were
a lot) the prevalent odor was from the Quaker Oats plant.

It struck you kind of like the refinery smell here on a "heavy" day - not
gentle, but heavy, almost too much.  I did NOT like that smell.  It was
just so strong.

Today it is like a faint echo of that smell tickling my nose, sitting on
the edge of dusty memories.  The interesting thing is, other memories,
visual, auditory, and even tactile, are coming along for the ride.  As
Spock (Science Officer, not Doctor) would say, "Interesting".
Russ

-- 
Enjoy Life By Living In Joy

Well Being Consultant
www.rldwbc.com