it's a manic kind of day..
I love sensory memories. The house is a bit chilly because the windows are closed up tight. I'm wearing my fall wardrobe staple for when I'm staying in and not inclined to see people- a comfortable t-shirt (dethklok today) and a pair of leggings. I've had this particular pair since I was pregnant with Ollie and they are still amazing and stretchy and un-pilled. They're grey with black skull&crossbones patterned all over, and at the right knee there is a bright blue splatter of paint from when I was helping my friend James paint his bedroom when moving in with my friend Sara. It's memories piled on memories today. Echoes of them rumbling down the hall and dancing at my feet while I'm washing dishes or playing dress up with the girls. Their hand-me-down costumes clothes from friend's kids are silk soft from wear and smell of foreign laundry soap, confusing the scent memories even more.
So I'm standing in the kitchen and everytime I step toward the cupboards to nab a spice or reach into the fridge I feel the swirl of scents around me shift. The rice and shitaki mushrooms bubbling on the stove, the girls playing together near the pantry, the skillet with other vegetables simmering quietly with soy sauce and sea salt, and every now and then the puff of Oliver's milk-breath as he leans in too close during our discussion of dinosaurs.
It's the mushrooms that did it. The jogging of this scent-memory overload. As soon as they had cooked long enough for it to hit my nose I was thrown back to last November. I spent an afternoon wrestling together my mum's christmas tree in our living room while watching Fringe on our laptop (placed strategically on the back of the recliner or other dubiously safe places so I could see it better) and in the middle I took a break to eat some shitaki rice and swear a lot about the damned tree for pinching my fingers and being so damn fiddly.
Once I started thinking about it, that was all I could think of. It was a nice afternoon, relaxing and fun, but nothing amazing. I'm still not sure why I can't get it out of my head but it's making me itchy to pull the huge box full of faux-boughs from the attic and set that mean ol' bastard up. I know right where I'd put it, too.
What do you think, dudes? Is mid September too soon? I think it's too soon. But I could start decorating it with silly, un-festive stuff for now. I could hang my circular needles on higher branches, necklaces too... Hmmm...
So I'm standing in the kitchen and everytime I step toward the cupboards to nab a spice or reach into the fridge I feel the swirl of scents around me shift. The rice and shitaki mushrooms bubbling on the stove, the girls playing together near the pantry, the skillet with other vegetables simmering quietly with soy sauce and sea salt, and every now and then the puff of Oliver's milk-breath as he leans in too close during our discussion of dinosaurs.
It's the mushrooms that did it. The jogging of this scent-memory overload. As soon as they had cooked long enough for it to hit my nose I was thrown back to last November. I spent an afternoon wrestling together my mum's christmas tree in our living room while watching Fringe on our laptop (placed strategically on the back of the recliner or other dubiously safe places so I could see it better) and in the middle I took a break to eat some shitaki rice and swear a lot about the damned tree for pinching my fingers and being so damn fiddly.
Once I started thinking about it, that was all I could think of. It was a nice afternoon, relaxing and fun, but nothing amazing. I'm still not sure why I can't get it out of my head but it's making me itchy to pull the huge box full of faux-boughs from the attic and set that mean ol' bastard up. I know right where I'd put it, too.
What do you think, dudes? Is mid September too soon? I think it's too soon. But I could start decorating it with silly, un-festive stuff for now. I could hang my circular needles on higher branches, necklaces too... Hmmm...