Our Senses Making Connections

It has been seven weeks since we have to stay at home due to COVID 19.  I have been  taking daily walks in the evenings and truly enjoy them. 

Our brains make connections and buried memories come back by a sight of an object or a smell.  Few days ago as I was walking in Glendale I could hear the doves.  They make a special sound, it is not a pleasant one.  Yet it reminded me of my childhood in Tehran.  There was a big park in our neighborhood with lots of birds.  Every day my brother and the neighbor's son put seeds in our backyard and the neighbor's balcony so the doves would come.  The young boys could identify each dove and had a unique name for them. 

As I kept walking I saw different houses and some of them reminded me of a special memory.  Our brains make connections.  In teaching we call it text-to-self connections.  One balcony reminded me of my Aunt Lusik's house in Villa Avenue.  Her third floor huge apartment had a long balcony with a nice view of rooftops.  On another walk I saw a large tree with a swing hanging from one of its strong branches.  That scene took me back to Gorgan, a small town near Caspian Sea in northern Iran.  When I was very young we took a trip and stayed with an Armenian family there.  They had farms, tractors, big trees and a cabin.  Their house was very different from the buildings in Tehran. Even though I was very young I still remember that trip.

Yesterday I walked in a different neighborhood and noticed special plants that reminded me of another sweet memory.  We used to go Karaj for picnics.  Uncle Andik cut some of those plants and took them home.  After so many years one little thing brought back all that.

Last week when I wanted to make Armenian coffee the smell of it took me back to a famous coffee store next to Cafe Naderi called Rio. Every time we walked past Rio Coffee the smell was mesmerizing.

It is interesting how our brain and senses trigger lovely memories.  I am aware of this process and I truly enjoy it.