I still remember the exact smell of rain on hot pavement from when I was four

I was standing on our front porch in Tucson, waiting for my mom to come back from the car. A summer storm had just started, and that sharp, dusty smell hit me so hard it's like a picture in my head. I can still feel the cool spray on my legs and hear the thunder way off in the distance. It's weird how that one tiny moment is clearer than whole years that came after it. Now, every time it rains in the summer, I get this weird sense of calm, like I'm a kid again for a second. It doesn't even matter if I'm stressed about work or anything. I mean, maybe it's just me but I feel like these random early memories shape your reactions more than the big events. Does anyone else have a super strong memory tied to a smell or a sound?

3 comments

3 Comments

seth_singh2022d ago

Yeah that's wild. What's the strongest memory you have tied to a sound?

the_lee21d ago

Oh man, my buddy still gets quiet if he hears a specific ice cream truck song. He was a kid, chasing after the truck, and he tripped and broke his arm right as that tune was playing. Now, decades later, if he hears that same jingle it just takes him right back to that hot sidewalk and the pain. Crazy how a sound can just trap a memory like that.

the_lisa21d ago

Honestly I don't really have one. Sounds don't lock memories for me like that, they're just background noise. Maybe my brain is just bad at it lol.