scents and memories
I have set aside my knitting and beading for a few days and my conscience is bothering me. Sometimes when I don't get back to a project for a while, it gets harder and harder to pick it up again and finish it. But I've been preoccupied with worrying whether I can rearrange my obligations at my paying job etc in order to have the day free for my spinning group on Wednesday. Now that I have that taken care of, I think I'll be able to concentrate on getting more work done.
I did some research on the traditional Finnish Christmas celebrations. I was curious as to the extent that my parents maintained the traditions of the old country after they came to Canada. Some of the trappings, like the tree and lights were not quite the same, but the food my mom prepared certainly was. There was a mention of something called 'tiernapojat' that I had never heard of. When my mom phoned this weekend, I asked her about it. She said it was not a tradition in her part of Finland.
I was thinking about food and the powerful effect the senses of smell and taste have on the mind. The tiniest whiff of a certain scent can bring back memories so acute that the whole body is affected. It can be a little disorientating. I experienced that "whole body memory" when after many years, I again smelled Ethiopian food when I entered an Ethiopian restaurant in Washington, D.C..
Everybody has had that sensation, I'm sure. Some people today told me for them the smell of pine woods up north, the muskeg smell of certain areas of northern Ontario, and the smell of woodsmoke...remind them of their grandfather...My oldest daughter once told me the summertime smell of barbecues and cut grass, take her back to her childhood in the suburbs.
I wonder in what way I can give my granddaughter some Finnish Christmas memories?
I did some research on the traditional Finnish Christmas celebrations. I was curious as to the extent that my parents maintained the traditions of the old country after they came to Canada. Some of the trappings, like the tree and lights were not quite the same, but the food my mom prepared certainly was. There was a mention of something called 'tiernapojat' that I had never heard of. When my mom phoned this weekend, I asked her about it. She said it was not a tradition in her part of Finland.
I was thinking about food and the powerful effect the senses of smell and taste have on the mind. The tiniest whiff of a certain scent can bring back memories so acute that the whole body is affected. It can be a little disorientating. I experienced that "whole body memory" when after many years, I again smelled Ethiopian food when I entered an Ethiopian restaurant in Washington, D.C..
Everybody has had that sensation, I'm sure. Some people today told me for them the smell of pine woods up north, the muskeg smell of certain areas of northern Ontario, and the smell of woodsmoke...remind them of their grandfather...My oldest daughter once told me the summertime smell of barbecues and cut grass, take her back to her childhood in the suburbs.
I wonder in what way I can give my granddaughter some Finnish Christmas memories?
posted by Kati at 12:17 a.m.
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