There are about a dozen memories I have of my childhood before we came to America in December of 1949. I know that most people have trouble recalling much of their lives before they turned five, but I was fortunate that my mother took loads of photos of me as a child. Almost all the events that I do recall happen to be memorialized in an image that helped keep the memory alive all these years.
In this photo, I am 3 years old and enjoying a Summer day in 1948 in Germany at an amusement park. The reason I recall this day, aside from the visual reminder, is that the fellow dressed in the bear outfit smelled exactly like a wet dog drying himself near a radiator. Other smells that day were the pungent odor of shoe polish from the electric cars that all of us children rode around on metal tracks and burnt sugar from the shooting gallery. I have no doubt that smell is a greater mnemonic than sight or sound, those can be fooled by smoke and mirrors and interrupting noise. Haven't we all seen those optical illusions of circles that appear larger than they really are, or lines that appear to bend but in actuality do not? But it's very difficult to fool the nose.
I used to raise mice for a hobby about fifteen years ago, at one time having more than a thousand and raising more than 50 babies a day, which I traded for mouse food with a local pet shop. I could drop an absolutely black mouse into a pile of other black mice and they would spot in an instant the new intruder although in appearance he was indistinguishable from the rest. The only way I could put a strange mouse into an existing village was to put Vaseline on the noses of the local residents so they would not be able to smell him. It would take more than a day for them to regain their sense of smell and by that time the stranger absorbed the smell of the village and was undetectable as an immigrant. Shows you the value of assimilation.
So what is the point here? Do not take for granted what your children can experience and remember. If you're pregnant, rub fruit juices on your belly to give your future child a treat. Squeeze flower petals into your navel and let the fragrance soak for a few days. Hum songs. Expose your belly to bright lights and music, you're not alone.
And when they are little children take them to parks and zoos and fill their rooms with color and mosaics on the walls. Let their minds explore the wonder of the universe before our school system starts to fill their minds with the gray dullness of liberal nonsense. With any luck they'll remember their childhood as that most wonderful of times when everything was new and nothing was impossible.
On Tuesdays and Wednesdays I host Open Trackback parties. This allows bloggers who have interesting posts to share them with my readers and therefore, presumably, a wider audience. My normal rules for linking, Bernie's 8 Rules, are suspended. That is, there is no set topic and as long as the post is not a splog entry, you can link whatever you like especially if it is offensive to Islam. Nothing linked here indicates that I either agree with or support or even like the opinions being expressed. But these bloggers generously host some of my insane, disgusting writings and I hope to repay them with this courtesy.
What is this?
Please send a trackback to this post, but don’t forget to link it. For other bloggers participating, visit linkfest haven deluxe to see other linkfests.
Here are some interesting Bloggers:
U.N. chief eyes climate change summit
Excerpt: Let’s see now…. we currently have a global war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, an active genocide in Darfur; conflict brewing between Israeli’s and the Palestinians and a United Nations Human Rights council that is unable to identi...
Weblog: Conservative Thoughts
Sham Duke Lacrosse Case is Dropped
Excerpt: To nobody’s surprise, the rigged case against three Duke Lacrosse players is finally getting dropped. Hopefully Mike Nifong will now pay the right price for his cruel power trip. We have called for his disbarment, and repeat it today. Mike Nif...
Weblog: Right Pundits
Newt Gingrich and the Left - UPDATE
Excerpt: UPDATE: Just now looking around Townhall.com, and I find that one of my favorite conservatives, Thomas Sowell, is also questioning the lack of effective communication from our Nation's leaders; in his words: " Only where it counts -- in Washington --...
Weblog: Maggie's Notebook
PBS Cuts Documentary on Radical Islam
Excerpt: The Executive Producer for WETA said the film , Islam vs. Islamists, was irresponsible because the writing was alarmist, and it wasn't fair. It notifies Americans that Muslim radicals are pushing to establish parallel societies in America and Europe g...
Weblog: The Amboy Times
The Purchasing of the Presidency
Excerpt: The announcement of the record setting campaign finance reports by the major party candidates this week brings into stark relief a fundamental question regarding this presidential cycle: is the country and the process well served by the race for the biggest bankroll?...
Weblog: BlogForCox
a new plan
Excerpt: Now if they can only find someone who wants to take the fall for their stupidity.
Weblog: nonauthoritarian eh?
WTW: Liz Edwards Scared Of "Rabid Republican”
Excerpt: Morning, y'all, Jebediah here, and I must say, seems as if 'ole Lizzy Edwards has a wee bit of a problem withSoutherners
Weblog: The Pirate's Cove
Muzlim Narcissism
Excerpt: "The reason young Mu-slim women wear the hi-jab is not to hide from people’s gaze, but to invite and challenge it.
Weblog: Woman HonorThyself
Calling All Bloggers!
Excerpt: ALIPAC and FAIR need you to join us in DC and help blog this current amnesty out of existence!
Weblog: Freedom Folks
al Qaeda Bombs Algeria
Excerpt: The targets were the Prime Minister's office and a police station. It is believed AQ attacked Algeria because of it's recent agreement with Spain to combat terrorism. There were 120 terror suspects arrested in Algeria last week, most of whom...
Weblog: The Amboy Times
Pelosi: The Pigeon's Response
Excerpt: The people have spoken! Perri Nelson writes: Speaker Pelosi should be arrested uponher
return to the United States and charged with violations of the Logan Act.
Weblog: Diary of the Mad Pigeon
Thwwaaaap!
Excerpt: A woman should sit and be quite dork, gets a verbal slap down from a Muslim woman.
Weblog: Mark My Words
Hispanic Services and Illegal Aliens
Excerpt: If Jesus says give to the poor and your pastor says you don’t have to give if you really feel like you can’t…who should you listen to? If Jesus says to love your neighbor and your Christian friends tell you to leave the illegal immigrants alone…who s...
Weblog: Imago Dei
a revelation
Excerpt: Proponents of "gun control" are insane. And before you accuse me of inflamatory comments, flaming, and all the rest, I mean that statement in all honesty. To understand better what I am trying to say, we have to first establish...
Weblog: walls of the city
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For more of my articles like this see Personal, -1945-1950, Open Trackback
