Marilyn's Musings

What about how things smell? Do you put scents in your books? How things smell is another important factor to convey to your readers. When I was a child I noticed that people's homes smelled different than my own. Often it was the cooking smells I noticed. Mexican food wasn't nearly as popular as it is today. Most of us didn't eat out much and if we did it was at a small diner where the food offering was much like mom cooked at home. (I'm talking about the years during World War II.) I remember visiting a Mexican friend's home and when I walked in I was bombarded with what to me then were exotic cooking scents. The first tacos I ever ate one of my aunties made and I recognized the scents that went along with some of what I'd smelled at my friend's house. Remember the overpowering and almost sickening scent of flowers in a funeral home? The first time I noticed this was at a funeral service at one of the little chapels at Forest Lawn. The smell of a dea...

This happened in a most imappropriate setting amongst a bunch of women all taking Early Childhood Education. The time period was soon after California decided anyone working with children in day care, pre-schools and the like, should have some college credits in Early Childhood Education. For those wanting to be teachers an AA degree was created. Most of the classes I took were valuable and things I could use in a classroom, Music, Crafts, Cooking, Exercise, and of course more scholarly classes about children and how they grow, physically and psychologically. One of the classes was labeled Science for Early Childhood. I expected fun experiments that kids could do. The professor taught all sorts of science classes but obviously had not a clue what he should teach people that they could use for programs for kids. I remember that he taught us about why there are so many fires in the foothills of California. Interesting, but not something very useful. One night we came into the class and o...