Aroma-induced nostalgia

My aunt sent me a bottle of perfume of the variety I used to wear way-back-when at varsity. I used it this morning for the first time (since then). Isn't it amazing how smells can bring memories gushing through you? I am suddenly in my second floor room in digs, mattress on the floor, with love-of-the-time sprawled in it. It is evening and my curtains are open, allowing the cool night air to blow in through the trees outside. I loved that huge 1800's windowsill onto the road. Sitting there was like sitting in the tree outside and I could watch the world go by. It had been an incredibly hot day and I was sitting in my knickers, one foot up on the chair, trying to finish an assignment. This morning, in my oh-so-different room in a different place and a different time, I felt my twisting conscience of that night... to finish, or join him?

Why that particular moment, I don't know, but I shall use the perfume again, in the hope that it will bring other flashbacks, of times and places and people. Looking back, it was an idyllic time. We were truly free. To love and drink and learn and over-indulge, purely on living. Of course, there was heartbreak, and hangovers and sad things too, but the overwhelming sense I have of that time is unadulterated happiness and so much love.

Here in blogland, there is a guy who is far more masterful at capturing the spirit of that time, in that place. Two of my favourites of his are here and here. So, yes, here's to a little aroma-induced nostalgia. Pass me my vodka and cream soda. Cheers!

When one drinks that heavily on life, there are bound to be hangovers, non?