Friday, March 05, 2004

nocturnal nostalgia

Its 1:00am and I’m in the FROG practicing with the windows open. Its about 65º outside and a breeze is blowing through the room. There is a smell. Is it a smell? Or a temperature or a… This is something I remember from childhood. We lived in a tiny house with our bed room on the west side. My brother and I had bunk beds but I remember one summer when the beds were separated and the head of my bed was at the window with the foot out into the room. I’m clean and have my pajamas on (cotton shorts and a t-shirt). There’s a breeze blowing in. The smell/feel/sensation is exactly as it is now.
Do you ever have a memory of nothing but a feeling? Environment? Atmosphere? Usually we remember doing things, events, people. What about a feeling that stands out so strong that it doesn’t even require a stimulus to bring to mind? That night or series of nights, or summer, stands out so powerfully to me that I’ve often lain in bed with the windows open and lamented that I couldn’t experience it again. It must be a combo of senses. The smell of the warm night, the caress of the breeze, the soft cotton jammies, the song of the tree frogs. I’m five years old. I don’t have to go to work in the morning. I’m just laying here listening to dad snore before he gets up to go to work.

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