What Does Summer Smell Like?

Science tells us smell is a powerful trigger for memories. Almost everyone has been in a crowded elevator or plane and gotten a whiff of something that reminds them of their grandmother’s hand lotion or their Daddy’s aftershave. I have certain “Olton” smells that take me back to 1967 and they never fail to make me smile.

• When I open a stick of Wintergreen Gum the aroma puts me at Willie Gene’s knee waiting for him to pull a stick of gum out of his pocket for me. Even after I’d been gone from Olton for over 25 years, he had a stick ready and waiting for me when he came to Mother’s funeral.


• Every time I begin shucking an ear of corn and smell that sweet raw smell I’m sitting on Cotton and Gay’s porch out at the farm and Gay is showing me how each strand of silk makes a kernel.


• As a summer watermelon falls open and the sticky sweet smell wafts up, I’m standing on a chair at our kitchen table, waiting for a piece of one of the many watermelons that would just appear on our back porch all summer long. They were simple gifts from any number of friends who wanted to be sure there was food on our table.

I often wonder what smells my children who are “city kids” will remember. Does soccer practice have a smell? Will they think fondly of their childhood when they drive through a Wendy’s and smell the burgers and fries that are so often supper for a busy family? Will the smell of summer smog on an Ozone Alert Day bring back happy childhood memories when my kids are grown? I’m afraid not. My “memory smells” are smells of the earth and of friendship. They are the smells of a small town.

JoTisa Holladay Klemm