Almost anything can trigger a memory. Today’s list is a compilation of some of my favorite memories and the things that trigger them.

1.  The smell of honeysuckle always reminds me of my childhood church.  Honeysuckle grew along the fence in the side yard and on those warm summer evenings, we’d run over after service and pull out the stamen and eat the nectar.  It was heavenly.

2.   When I see green apples, I’m reminded of the times in the late summer just before the apples on the tree across the road were ripe, we’d eat them all green with lips puckered and eyes squinted from the sour.  We didn’t care that we might end up with a stomach ache.

3. The smell of rain in the air reminds me of being a child and standing on the front porch, with pure abandonment, watching a storm roll in . Even now, I love a good thunderstorm (unless it’s a scary tornadic type storm).

4.  Hearing a UK (University of Kentucky) basketball game on the radio reminds me of time spent at my paternal grandparents house with my cousin.  My Grandfather would go to the Bahama’s on a mission trip every January and my cousin and I would “babysit” grandma.  My cousin would listen to UK games and she and Grandma would work a puzzle and I’d read. It was a cozy evening in the kitchen.

5.  Eating saltine crackers reminds me of staying with my maternal grandmother.  We’d pile up in the feather bed with books and crackers.  She’d try to stay awake, but usually fell asleep while I was reading.  I’d try my best to make her stay awake with me, but she kept dozing.

6.  When someone mentions Kentucky author, Jesse Stuart I remember my Mother’s joy the day she got to meet him.  We knew some people, who sort of knew him and we took a drive to meet them, and they drove us right up to Jesse Stuart’s front door.  He came out on the porch and chatted with us and told my mother she had a twinkle in her eye.

7.  The smell of Aqua Net (does anybody still use this stuff?) Hairspray or Dial soap will trigger memories of summer church camp.  I loved church camp.  I literally grew up at camp.  From the time I was a baby until about age 20 or 21 I was involved in church camp.  My mother “worked” Youth camp and took me as a child.  We lived on the campgrounds as caretakers two different times when I was younger and I went to Youth camp every summer when I was old enough.  Then, when I was older I’d stay in a camper with one of my friends at Adult camp.  I remember the girls dormitory always smelled like soap and hairspray.  It was the seventies.  I rarely wear hairspray these days; however, I do use soap.

8.  The smell of fresh cut hay brings back memories of hayrides through the countryside.  A good hayride signals that fall has officially arrived.  The air is crisp and the colors are vibrant.  There is new found energy.

Thanks for walking down memory lane with me.

Teresa (aka Sadie Grace)