Monthly Archives: June 2016

1179. I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order. ~John Burroughs

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Nothing can be found in the intellect
if previously it has not been found in the senses.
~Michael Servetus
We evolved to move and to learn
with all our five senses!
~Martha Beck

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I’ve been thinking since I got up this morning about yesterday’s post in which I discussed creature comforts and the power of smell(#1178). I’m still particularly intrigued by Ackerman’s quote as well as Keller’s quote and the implications of the passage from Scripture I chose for that post and am repeating for this one. And then today one of my fellow bloggers wrote a poem today about a spark of life she had experienced. It was then that it occurred to me that the tripwire triggered by smell which Ackerman talks about coming through the “weedy mass of years” and setting off a spark that detonates memories could be true of all the senses. Since all 5 are capable of setting off such “soft” explosions of memory in us, could it be that the purpose of bringing us good memories through sensory methods of perception is intended to bring us ultimately back to Yahweh, the Father of all life and the Giver of our senses. Seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling are parts of the pleasures that come from out observance of and interactions with Creation. And so where better to find God than in nature and/or in His gifts inherent in the things that comfort us. Maybe God intentionally incorporated a fail-safe in His children who could and would wander, and in so doing built into the fabric of our being little beacons that once lighted anew by sensory input would restore memories of home and creaturely comforts which in turn would brings us back to Him, the comforting source indwelling in our hearts and souls. Okay, so why the need for 5 senses? Why not just one? One of my quotes was from Helen Keller a woman who was both blind and deaf, and yet she still had the ability to smell which brought her to the conclusion that “smell is a potent wizard” capable of transporting someone “across thousands and thousands of miles and all the years” that individual had lives. Perhaps, this is why I’m so enamored with my garden.When one truly loves a garden which inhabits a piece of ground on Earth, some of the elements of its reality root in the soil of his/her soul, thus blessing him/her with hosts of sparks that rise like fireflies in the night.

Live with all of your senses.
~Sue Townsend

The hollyhock above is truly a spark of life. I threw the seed down for it in the fall and have no idea at what moment the spark that ignited it came, but come it did and now today this beauty is the progeny of that tiny seed. And its beauty and presence is a balm unto my soul and “puts my senses in order.”

If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ~1 Corinthians 12:17  ✝

Happy Father’s…

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day to all you dad’s out there. I pray that you all have a wonderful, blessed day! I was my daddy’s first-born little girl, and he was indeed my first love. However, even though I was not his first son, he was my first hero too. And he did in fact mean the world to me and my family. Just wish Dad hadn’t died before I could tell him these things, but just in case he’s listening now: Norman you were so dear to me, and I love you so very much still!  Natalie

Screen Shot 2016-06-18 at 11.17.16 PM.png**Images of my dad from old family albums; text box images found on Pinterest

1178. Nothing revives the past so completely as a smell that was once associated with it. Vladimir Nabokov

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Smell is a potent wizard that transports you
across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived.
~Helen Keller

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Creature comforts! What are they anyway? Okay, lets establish what the term “creature comforts” means. It is thought that the expression was first used in the 1600‘s to describe the simple things that met a person’s needs such as food, a good bed, comfortable shoes, etc. The meaning has evolved a bit over time as it now includes physical ease such as warmth, available hot and cold water, clean laundry, in other words anything that makes life more comfortable and pleasant. Simply put, it can be any small item or detail that makes a person feel at home, which includes not only creature comforts but also heart and soul comforts as well. I think perhaps many of us have similar creature comforts but then time and place may, if asked, change some of our answers to the question. On a side note, before I go on though, I’ve read that interestingly in World War I, creature comforts were cherished even more than comradeship and unit loyalties.

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Nothing is more memorable than a smell.
Smells detonate softly in our memory like
poignant land mines hidden under
the weedy mass of years. Hit a tripwire
of smell and memories explode all at once.
A complex vision leaps out of the undergrowth.
~Diane Ackerman

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Okay, so what does all this creature comfort stuff have to do with smell? It all started this morning as I sat looking out at my white lilies and remembered their lovely fragrance. Probably because these particular lilies are so white it hit a tripwire of the unforgettable and delicious scent of linens, sheets and towels and such, from my childhood that had been hung outside to dry on a clothesline. That led to thoughts of homemade quilts and white iron beds and the incredibly luscious night’s sleep that was to be had in, on, and under such things which have always been some of my most favorite creature, heart, and soul comforts. Then as Ackerman put it, poignant land mines of memories began to detonate all over my place, but they were the kinds of memories not too many share these days.

If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ~1 Corinthians 12:17  ✝

**All images but the white lily found on Pinterest; collages by Natalie