There's a particular smell, that when it occasionally wafts toward my nostrils, makes me think "That smells like LA." I know what you're thinking. "Jen, that's smog." But no! It's a much more complex, calming, yet energizing at the same time, nostalgic kind of aroma.
I'm pretty sure it hearkens back to my childhood visits to grandparents in LA, so, I will grant you, smog may be the base note of this particular perfume. It also contains sun-baked cement, swimming pool chlorine, and, I think, gardenia. And it evokes images of, yes, swimming pools, Disneyland, and a particular excitement I got just visiting the big city.
When my cousins and I used to visit our grandparents, we'd stay in a gigantic bedroom of their very large apartment, which was on a very busy thoroughfare. I remember lying in bed and hearing the traffic, and that just adding to the thrill of being here. "Wow! People are actually awake and doing stuff in the middle of the night!" Having grown up in the country, where the sounds at night were...absolutely nothing...yes, total silence...I don't even remember crickets or anything like that...the sounds of the city at night were totally invigorating to me.
This is a good memory to summon when life in the city gets too overwhelming or irritating. I bring it to mind and remember that I did once, find the whole thing exciting and inspiring, so now, when I don't, I can realize that it's not the traffic, which is the same, or the crowds of people, who are the same, but my mind, which is overwhelmed and irritated instead of excited and inspired.
It all depends on the mind, people. All, everything, the whole enchilada, alpha and omega. So I'll thank you (and by "you," I mean, "me") to kindly remember that from now on.
I'm pretty sure it hearkens back to my childhood visits to grandparents in LA, so, I will grant you, smog may be the base note of this particular perfume. It also contains sun-baked cement, swimming pool chlorine, and, I think, gardenia. And it evokes images of, yes, swimming pools, Disneyland, and a particular excitement I got just visiting the big city.
When my cousins and I used to visit our grandparents, we'd stay in a gigantic bedroom of their very large apartment, which was on a very busy thoroughfare. I remember lying in bed and hearing the traffic, and that just adding to the thrill of being here. "Wow! People are actually awake and doing stuff in the middle of the night!" Having grown up in the country, where the sounds at night were...absolutely nothing...yes, total silence...I don't even remember crickets or anything like that...the sounds of the city at night were totally invigorating to me.
This is a good memory to summon when life in the city gets too overwhelming or irritating. I bring it to mind and remember that I did once, find the whole thing exciting and inspiring, so now, when I don't, I can realize that it's not the traffic, which is the same, or the crowds of people, who are the same, but my mind, which is overwhelmed and irritated instead of excited and inspired.
It all depends on the mind, people. All, everything, the whole enchilada, alpha and omega. So I'll thank you (and by "you," I mean, "me") to kindly remember that from now on.
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