Originally Published Mar 7, 2011

We drove by a little church building in Hankamer, Texas last year on a geocaching adventure. That drive-by inspired this article, not because of any special memories associated with the family that worshiped there or the facade on the front, but simply because of the smell I knew would be inside.

The cleaner and furniture polish used on the wooden pews and wooden floor in the mid-1970s left a unique aroma after decades of buildup. It was neither unpleasant nor pleasant, but it was omnipresent. The building had a couple of classrooms in the back which we painted one Saturday afternoon and gagged on the paint fumes, but the single greatest thing I recall about that building is the smell of every Sunday evening's services. Maybe 25 people attended if we brought a couple of carloads from Baytown, the air conditioning was almost non-existent, the singing wasn't a draw but the preaching was pretty good, and I often unlocked the front door with a pocket knife because the key was miles away. I would probably not remember any of the other building memories except through that strong and unique scent.

How many times has a particular aroma brought up powerful components of a significant memory? Got time for a quick detour?

If you've ever had a noseful of airplane ventilation you know what I mean. That meld of plastic, leather, dirtyish carpet, stress, a tinge of burned jet fuel and spilled soft drinks is pretty unique to the airline experience. Does it remind you of that trip to Walt Disney World or Grandma's house for Christmas?

What about the stench of burned rubber and racing fuel found around racetracks? Just talking about it reminds me of a trip J.D. Walker, Guy Larson and I took to Buffalo Speedway in 1976.

The bouquet of Hoppe's #9 almost makes me feel the cold steel in my hands, and a whiff of consumed nitrocellulose will turn the head of most hoplophiles.

Good: electronics fresh from the plastic wrap. Bad: electronics after a catastrophic failure.

Chocolate. Coffee. Charcoal-grilled hamburger. Salmon. Garlic. Cinnamon. Fresh cookies, straight from the oven. Many of our instantly recognizable scents are reinforced through years of practice in or near the dining room. Bacon. Mmmmm bacon. Maple syrup. Bacon. Maple syrup. That's an easy loop to get stuck in.

Some smells are less pleasant, not by the smell itself but by the associated memories. The essence of isopropyl alcohol probably stirs memories of painful doctor-related events in most of us.

The fragrance of certain flowers reminds me of funeral homes, a perfume I like to avoid most days.

Skunk, 'nuff said.

Some smells can go either way: Wet dog. Springtime rain. Black earth. Manure. Diesel.

But because we're unique we don't all have the same scent-memory triggers. Some people probably associate the smell of Sterno with food warmers, I think of The Andromeda Strain, an obvious synapse-crossfire.

And then there's the memories of certain sounds, we'll discuss that at length some other time.