A Familiar Phenomenon

Ones sense of smell, in a way, is a phenomenon.  Its adept ability to instill memories defies logic.  I remember waking up, choking on the smell of cigarette smoke as it lingered the downstairs bedroom.  The smell was embedded in everything.  I knew that because all too often I found myself using the blankets as a gas mask.  That smell never left my mind.  It wasn't the only smell, however, to leave me with vivid memories of my childhood. 

Around midday I could be found on the other side of the white fence.  Knee-high bushes stood on either side of the rocky path. The path was not full of pebbles, or sand, or even dirt, it was more of a composition of dirt and palm-sized rocks.  My direction of travel was rarely determined, as I often deviated from the man made paths.  I wandered; in hopes to find a new path - or maybe I was trying to get lost.  Regardless, blackberry bushes were in abundance.  They were the one thing that I could never seem to get away from.  To this day, I can not describe the aroma of the area to which I so often fled. The sun was white hot; it seemed to immunize my sense of smell.  Perhaps that is what instills this memory so vivid in my mind - the smell of nothingness.

Have a listen

I value what Shane Koyczan says in the poem that he delivered during last years Winter Olympic games.  It represents Canadians as we are.  We should be proud of what the Olympics did for both Vancouver and Canada.  The Olympics, however, did not change Canadians; it only brought out our patriotism.  It allowed the world to see who we are as a country.  A Canadian is a little of you.  In a sense we are the most diversified nation; people from all over the world flock to our beautiful country.  Canada is the world's largest portrait, painted by millions.  It is a cultural mosaic to which outsiders marvel.  We can now be understood for more than our ability to say 'please' and 'thank-you'.  For that, I appreciate the Winter Olympic Games.