"The Remembrance Of Things Past"

"Sometimes, when watching the same thing, I can remember how it tasted while eating it."

This statement might sound nonsensical, but when Ian formulated it, I immediately understood what he meant.  He was watching TV when he shared this observation, and what he was saying was that, when he watches a TV show that he has already seen, he remembers the taste of food that he was eating the previous time that he watched it.  And that's exactly how life is.  I remember passing a little shop in Russia that reminded me exactly of the smell of my grandmother's house in Medford, Masschusetts, some years before.  And smells in Mexico have reminded me of particular moments in my childhood, even though I spent it far from Mexico.  We experience things in packages, and our senses of smell and taste kick in their components of the package even when the initial trigger is something entirely visual, auditory or even intellectual.

More specifically, Ian remembered that, the last time he had watched the show in question, he was eating peanut butter that wasn't quite up to par.  Then he suddenly remembered why it wasn't as good as standard peanut butter:  because he was eating it with rice cakes.

(December 16, 2012)