Sense of Smell

     "Memories, imagination, old sentiments, and associations are more readily reached through the sense of smell than through any other channel." – Oliver Wendell Holmes
  
     The other day while gathering up supplies and tools to clean my home, I discovered that I was pretty much out of every store bought cleaner in my cabinet. In an effort to not only be cleaner, but greener and cheaper, I made my own cleaning solution using a recipe my mother used. Very simply, its equal parts vinegar and hot water. I also added tea tree oil to the mix. I love it for its clean scent and its disinfectant properties. Needless to say, it did the trick and worked very well...on everything! Hooray for a multipurpose cleaner! My favorite part though were the memories from the smell. I was instantly transported back to the home of my adolescence where Fridays were know as cleaning day and the air was so thick with the smell of vinegar it could leave feeling a bit pickled. I pictured my Mom in her kitchen mixing up batches in great big spray bottles and then passing them out to us kids where we in turn would disperse to the rooms of the house to spray and shine. I loved it! I loved how homey it felt because I was reminded of my old home. I will continue to use my Mother's home made vinegar cleaner for the simple joy it brings me, much to the dismay of my 4 year old who, in her own words, thinks the smell is "disgusting" and smells "like poop". Hopefully, this will change and she too in turn will grow to love the scent or her memories of cleaning day won't be as fond as mine.