MrRetentive
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- Aug 26, 2013
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A post in the Twitterverse this week mentioned one of my favorite 60’s-era psychedelic rock bands, Vanilla Fudge. The name flooded my brain with memories of a summer of good times with a bunch of friends as we created an 8mm “feature film” called, “When Young Men Turn to Other Things.” It featured what we believed was a cutting age sound track including the Fudge classic, “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.” The effort’s mastermind, Joe, passed away a few years back and I’ve lost touch with the others, but I think about them often. (One guess what I'm listening to on Spotify as I write this...)
When I catch a whiff of someone smoking a pipe, I flash to my grandfather sitting in his easy chair by the picture window on Lincolnway in Mishawaka, IN, smoking his favorite Schermerhorn’s Flake Mixture. I can picture the big round can whose lid featured a thumb key that slid all around to pry it up. Sometimes when the tobacco dried too much to his taste, you’d find he dropped in a little slice of apple for a short time to bring it back to his liking.
It’s been hot in Minnesota this week. One morning, I went out back to give our son’s Yellow Lab, Murphy, a run around the back yard. (My wife and I are dog-sitting this week while my son and his family vacation.) The air was still, the sun was hot on the back of my neck, the smell of parched grass hit my nose. Momentarily, I was back 43 years ago, walking the streets trying to find a summer job so I could pay for another year of college that fall.
I love the little triggers that bring back the memories… the sights, sounds and smells.
When I catch a whiff of someone smoking a pipe, I flash to my grandfather sitting in his easy chair by the picture window on Lincolnway in Mishawaka, IN, smoking his favorite Schermerhorn’s Flake Mixture. I can picture the big round can whose lid featured a thumb key that slid all around to pry it up. Sometimes when the tobacco dried too much to his taste, you’d find he dropped in a little slice of apple for a short time to bring it back to his liking.
It’s been hot in Minnesota this week. One morning, I went out back to give our son’s Yellow Lab, Murphy, a run around the back yard. (My wife and I are dog-sitting this week while my son and his family vacation.) The air was still, the sun was hot on the back of my neck, the smell of parched grass hit my nose. Momentarily, I was back 43 years ago, walking the streets trying to find a summer job so I could pay for another year of college that fall.
I love the little triggers that bring back the memories… the sights, sounds and smells.
