Weird things that comfort you

[swamp]

Listening to a hockey game on the radio or watching one on TV

I think it’s because when I was little we didn’t have cable and most of our TV stations were out of Canada. On Saturday nights I would sit on my dads lap and we would watch Hockey Night In Canada. Go Habs!!!

Also catholic mass. I’m agnostic but raised catholic. I generally don’t go to church but when I do I find the ritual very comforting

I think I’m weird.

[Tennesseer]

Gregorian chants.

[finnime]

The smell of gasoline.

My father worked a lot on various machinery that used gasoline to run. He also used it to clean said machinery. And of course, every gas station stop on a trip brought whiffs of gasoline. It's instant childhood.

Also, the droning of a prop plane. That's instant summer.

I'm weird, too.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Smell of motor oil.   DH worked at an oil refinery for awhile and I kept huffing his coat but couldn't figure out why it appealed to me.  Mom said that's what my dad's clothes smell like when he would come home from working at the auto parts store.  I associate the smell with safety and comfort.

The smell of sausage and onions.   The smell of classic blue colored Head & Shoulders.   The smell of Ivory soap.

[TheOtherMe]

The smell of rubber makes me think of my dad.  He worked his life away at Firestone.

Cigarette smell reminds me of my mom--even though she gave them up the last 8 years of her life.

[resolution]

A bowl of chili reminds me of growing up in Arizona. No one really eats it out here, but I probably make it once a month in the crockpot so I can smell it all day before we eat.

[chiver78]

salt air - why I moved back to the beach. 
stale smoke definitely reminds me of my parents, but I wouldn't call it a comforting thing b/c it reeks. 

[TheOtherMe]

Mar 3, 2021 13:58:02 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

 
stale smoke definitely reminds me of my parents, but I wouldn't call it a comforting thing b/c it reeks. 

I can only take a whiff of it and there aren't many places where stale smoke is in public around here.  I think only the casinos and I'm not going there.  

[Cheesy FL-Vol]

Not sure if these are weird, but when I am really stressed, I pull out books I read when I was 10, 11, 12.

Old spice, and end-of-the-day stubble flashes me back to my dad. He worked so much that we didn't see him too much so these things bring a flash of comfort.

Watching Wizard of Oz! It was aired at some point every March on a Sunday evening(this is pre-cable years) and we gathered together as a family to watch. Wizard of Oz is the first film I saw captioned as an adult and I was stunned at how much dialogue I had missed as a child.

Reading The Hobbit is another one. On Sunday afternoons, my parents took turns reading aloud various books. The first one was The Hobbit. One of my brothers is an artist and he always sketched what he was envisioning as a story/chapters were read.

[stillmovingforward]

Hydraulic fluid. DH was a friend back then and helping/protecting me through some really rough times. He worked in heavy equipment and always smelled of hydraulic fluid.

[chiver78]

Mar 3, 2021 14:00:27 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Mar 3, 2021 13:58:02 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

 
stale smoke definitely reminds me of my parents, but I wouldn't call it a comforting thing b/c it reeks. 

I can only take a whiff of it and there aren't many places where stale smoke is in public around here.  I think only the casinos and I'm not going there.  

the most recent boxes I've unpacked have been deliveries from my parents. there were a couple things I actually wanted to keep from grade school, but I was getting a headache from the smell of them. papers, fabrics. I'm still on the fence about a scrapbook. I had to move it out of my tiny office b/c it was overpowering. it's currently airing out on my dining room table, I haven't decided for sure yet. 

[oped]

I consider favorite books and movies to be comfort food.

[haapai]

Seeing maple trees strung with taps and tubing always cheers me up.  They are unsightly but they mean that spring is coming.  Beehives are also pretty ramshackle but they portend the orchards breaking into blossoms and, eventually, summer.  

Can you tell that I once had to drive a long distance along rural roads and highways? 

[Cheesy FL-Vol]

Haapai's post reminded me of another, but this is more joy than comfort. My heart sings when there is fall foliage. After living in FL for nearly 30 years and moving into a part of the country with 4 seasons again is just so soul satisfying for both of us.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

The "Wish you a Merry Christmas" Hershey Kiss commercial.  Not the new one but the original one from 1985.   It signaled that Christmas season was here. . in the years before it started arriving on shelves in Mid September.  

[stillmovingforward]

Mar 3, 2021 14:16:46 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Mar 3, 2021 14:00:27 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

I can only take a whiff of it and there aren't many places where stale smoke is in public around here.  I think only the casinos and I'm not going there.  

the most recent boxes I've unpacked have been deliveries from my parents. there were a couple things I actually wanted to keep from grade school, but I was getting a headache from the smell of them. papers, fabrics. I'm still on the fence about a scrapbook. I had to move it out of my tiny office b/c it was overpowering. it's currently airing out on my dining room table, I haven't decided for sure yet. 

Put everything in a plastic bag with a box of baking soda. Close it up tight and leave it there for a few weeks. Maybe shake it around every few days. That should get rid of the worst of the smells.

[swamp]

Mar 3, 2021 14:20:15 GMT -5 haapai said:

Seeing maple trees strung with taps and tubing always cheers me up.  They are unsightly but they mean that spring is coming.  

Tapping maple trees isn’t unsightly. It’s a sign of spring abs makes delicious syrup.

[happyhoix]

I love pressure washing really dirty things, like mildewed siding or stained concrete.

I also love cutting entangling vines off of trees. My yard butts up against scruffy woods with lots of honey suckle vine that will wrap around a tree, eventually cutting into the bark. Unraveling the mess and cutting it away from the tree feels like liberating the tree.

And - digging potatoes.

[haapai]

Mar 3, 2021 14:47:36 GMT -5 swamp said:

Mar 3, 2021 14:20:15 GMT -5 haapai said:

Seeing maple trees strung with taps and tubing always cheers me up.  They are unsightly but they mean that spring is coming.  

Tapping maple trees isn’t unsightly. It’s a sign of spring abs makes delicious syrup. [img src="https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff155/JiminiChristmas/ymamsmiles/smile.gif" class="smile" src="//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png" alt=""]

Fine!  Since you nixed that one, I'll come up with another.

I really like seeing Pine-Sol change from a clear liquid to milky-white when it is diluted.  It's my favorite part of mopping the floor but not enough to motivate me to clean the floor often.  The magic of the transformation just doesn't make up for the tedium of mopping. 

I know why seeing the color change does something to me.  It reminds me of when I was five and first saw Dettol being diluted.  We had just moved to Tanzania and Dettol was also commonly referred to as "dawa" which means "medicine" in Swahili.  It seemed to be used for just about everything from cleaning floors to disinfecting wounds. 

[TheOtherMe]

Mar 3, 2021 14:29:22 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

Mar 3, 2021 14:16:46 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

the most recent boxes I've unpacked have been deliveries from my parents. there were a couple things I actually wanted to keep from grade school, but I was getting a headache from the smell of them. papers, fabrics. I'm still on the fence about a scrapbook. I had to move it out of my tiny office b/c it was overpowering. it's currently airing out on my dining room table, I haven't decided for sure yet. 

Put everything in a plastic bag with a box of baking soda. Close it up tight and leave it there for a few weeks. Maybe shake it around every few days. That should get rid of the worst of the smells.

This is what I've done with my parents' things that smell of stale smoke if it's something I want to keep.  

I put the plastic bag in the garage until the smell is covered up.  

[anciana]

Shredding paper 

[busymom]

Cheesy FL-Vol, are you sure we weren't raised in the same household?      I LOVE to, when stressed, pull out some old childhood books, or bake one of my Mom's favorite treats.  (Maybe it means we're done being adults for the day?)      After living "down South", I discovered I really DID love 4 seasons.  At least, Spring, Summer & Fall.  After one quick snowfall, just to dust the trees in white, you can keep Winter!


I also love digging in the garden, whether it's planting new bulbs in the Fall, or putting seeds & young plants in the ground in the Spring.

[haapai]

Burning leaves.  I love seeing it done.  I love the scent that it gives off.  I love the scent imbued in the clothing of folks who have been burning leaves.  It isn't done much anymore, for good reasons, but it was once just.how.you.did.things.  

I also swear that my attraction to the scent of burning leaves has nothing to do with what else it smells like.  I loved the scent long before that association got pointed out to me. 

[Lizard Queen]

At first, I couldn't think of anything that didn't involve something not so weird because it involves adding to physical comfort or clearing mental clutter. But after reading these posts, I remember I like the smell of diesel exhaust, as it reminds me of the study abroad trip I had in college. I'm not out where I'd smell it much in my regular life.
Also, I like to tend a campfire. Keep it going, flipping pieces around to get everything to burn down to nothing. I was going to say I love it, but it's a huge time suck and I don't love that aspect of it and so don't do it that often.

[Cheesy FL-Vol]

Mar 3, 2021 16:31:36 GMT -5 busymom said:

Cheesy FL-Vol , are you sure we weren't raised in the same household?      I LOVE to, when stressed, pull out some old childhood books, or bake one of my Mom's favorite treats.  (Maybe it means we're done being adults for the day?)      After living "down South", I discovered I really DID love 4 seasons.  At least, Spring, Summer & Fall.  After one quick snowfall, just to dust the trees in white, you can keep Winter!


I also love digging in the garden, whether it's planting new bulbs in the Fall, or putting seeds & young plants in the ground in the Spring.

We found this in NE TN!

[tskeeter]

Mar 3, 2021 16:31:36 GMT -5 busymom said:

Cheesy FL-Vol , are you sure we weren't raised in the same household?      I LOVE to, when stressed, pull out some old childhood books, or bake one of my Mom's favorite treats.  (Maybe it means we're done being adults for the day?)      After living "down South", I discovered I really DID love 4 seasons.  At least, Spring, Summer & Fall.  After one quick snowfall, just to dust the trees in white, you can keep Winter!


I also love digging in the garden, whether it's planting new bulbs in the Fall, or putting seeds & young plants in the ground in the Spring.

DW and I found we liked four seasons after stints in Atlanta and LA.  But we weren’t up for retiring to Minneapolis.  We found the high desert of the eastern Sierras a good alternative.  Four full seasons, winter isn’t very harsh, and we mostly keep our snow in the mountains, not the driveway.

[lurkyloo]

Mar 3, 2021 16:28:04 GMT -5 anciana said:

Shredding paper 

Come visit me 

I love the smell of plant nursery...potting soil and fertilizer.  Also the smell just before or after a rain.  After living for years in coastal CA count me in on valuing rain and seasons.  There was a definite low level stress or unhappiness to living without.

[bookkeeper]

French onion chip dip and wavy chips.  Watching the lightning roll across the prairie.  Seeing how high the snow can pile up on the deck railing.  Laundry fresh out of the dryer, especially pajamas and warm socks.

[notagain]

The smell of linseed oil when painting on canvas also old spice

[giramomma]

Mar 3, 2021 12:34:27 GMT -5 swamp said:

Also catholic mass. I’m agnostic but raised catholic. I generally don’t go to church but when I do I find the ritual very comforting

I've come to the conclusion that I am agnostic. We are raising our kids Catholic, and I do find mass to be very comforting as well.

My stash comforts me. I mean. Seriously, who looks through cross stitch patterns and goes "well, hello old friend."

The smell of strong aftershave. My first orchestra teacher who was present throughout most of my k-12 education used it. I got a whiff every time he tuned me.

My dad's love. It's probably the only thing I could ever count on.

Having my hair stroked.