Smells like…

Have you ever experienced an olfactory sensation that brings back memories? I get those all the time. Today, in Kansas, I had two such moments.

The first of these occurred when I was outside walking the dogs. While waiting for them to do their business, I took in a deep breath of the moisture-laden air. The smell of rain combined with the overcast skies and breezy, sixty degree weather brought me back to a week spent in a nearby town in Kansas during my college years, about 7 or 8 years ago. Gina Sypersma, Tom Nechodomu, Jason Slininger, Leah Mettler, Thomas Shafer, and I all drove down to Myndi Corfman’s parents’ farm to hang out over Spring Break. It was probably around this same time of year and the weather was similarly breezy. We spent an evening outside under the stars, braving the cold, chilly night air. At least some of us did. Others wimped out before the night was over. But what a fun week that was. We were all in chorale together, so much time was spent breaking out into chorus, of which I have some of it on video and still enjoy watching to this day.

The second “smelly” situation occurred when Marilyn and I were at the nearby outlet mall this morning. The air was still heavy with moisture, so much so that I could almost feel the wetness on my skin. I am sure anyone who is used to humidity wouldn’t have noticed a thing, but when you are from a dry state like Colorado, you really notice any change in humidity. I could hear the traffic on the nearby interstate zooming by. The noise and the humidity brought me back to family vacations that we took growing up. We would travel to Indiana from Wyoming, which is another dry state. I remember falling asleep in the car on these trips, only to awaken several hours and/or a couple states further east. We would get out of the car at the gas station or rest area and be confronted with a rush of heavy, humid air. Often these gas station/rest stops also contained many insects. Many more than you would ever seen in Wyoming. What a strange place these states were! Where in the world do all those huge June bugs come from?