I'm a sniffer. I love smells...they remind me of my life and all the places I've lived.
Driving through Burbank and suddenly I smell Tijuana. The exact same smell of the clinic where my mom died. A little pine sol, some of that pink liquid soap, rubbing alcohol all mixed in with the smell of hot sauce and car exhaust and that dusty heat-smell of the desert. Cigarette smoke mixed in a bit - family members of the clinic patients hovering outside, just out of view so their cancer-ridden loved ones won't see the smoke.
Driving through Burbank and suddenly I smell Tijuana. The exact same smell of the clinic where my mom died. A little pine sol, some of that pink liquid soap, rubbing alcohol all mixed in with the smell of hot sauce and car exhaust and that dusty heat-smell of the desert. Cigarette smoke mixed in a bit - family members of the clinic patients hovering outside, just out of view so their cancer-ridden loved ones won't see the smoke.
Sometimes Los Angeles smells like Milan - the diesel fumes from set-up day at the Fiera...mixed again with cigarette smoke and pollution from too many cars and old buildings and then wonderful cooking wafting through, a cafe filled with people and lattes and croissants.
Early mornings near Santa Monica remind me of Cannes in the spring when the Festival is just setting up and the air is clear still from the ocean, no traffic yet, birds floating through the air and a slight breeze blowing through the curtains.
Then there's Cairo; downtown always smells to me like Egypt. Old urine, sweat, decay and heat in the summer making the car engines ping as they slowly cool down while their owners run, trying to avoid the cops and find their favorite dealer. I remember the scent of camels and donkeys and jasmine and smoke and burning rubber and just heat. Heat has a distinctive odor that is a little different in each country but is palpable and almost visual.
Not much in California has reminded me of the smell of Canada, except my one expedition to Big Bear and the snow. Calgary's smells remind me of cool summers by the lake and the smell of hot dogs and marshmallows and a campfire and fish and a bit of whiskey and wine from my parents' glasses. The metallic smell of snow and the silence as it falls in winter, the same in Calgary as it was in Denver and in Norway...Norway had more fish though. Denver is also thunderstorms in the summer, crackling smell of lightning and water pounding the car roof as you pull over on the highway to wait out the storm.
Nassau was the sunscreen and saltwater, more a taste than a smell. Lobsters freshly caught grilling with garlic and too much rum in my glass again. Night air of the ocean and always humid sweat.
