Takes Me Back

It amazes me how strong the sense of smell can be when it comes to triggering memories.

I arrived in Waymart, Pennsylvania last night at the beautiful Camp Ladore. Today I took a walk around and it struck me that camp always smells the same. It smells just like it did my very first summer and that was 7 years ago. And as I walked around and took things in, there are a lot of things that have changed over the years and camp looks a bit different then it did that first summer. But the fact that it smells the same brought back so many memories.

Funny isn't it?! I love smells that bring back good memories - baked beans in the oven, fresh bread, cut grass in the summer, the ocean. I think everyone can think of smells that bring back those great memories. And for a moment in time we are transported back to a simpler or maybe even a better time. And just as smells can take us back to a wonderful place, they can also dredge up memories from the past that we have tried to forget. And in that same instant, we are in a place that we don't want to be with a past that haunts us.

But for today, as I walked around the lake and took it all in, I remembered all the good memories that I have from here and all the great friends I've made over the years. And for a few moments, all was right in the world and life was as it should be.