Time Travel? Yes, I perfected that years ago!

People have been desiring a solution to time travel for decades. Countless movies have conjured methods, from absurd to insane, and all seem to prove that nothing good will come of it. Doctor Who pretty much traveled in time, with class and panache.

I would love to go back in time and physically be around family that are gone now.

Copyright Hazel Tatum

Copyright Hazel Tatum

Copyright Hazel Tatum

Copyright Sylvia Suitor

Copyright Sylvia Suitor

I do have one method of time travel perfected for myself. It works for now but not so sure about when I age and my brain changes. There are smells and sights that immediately throw me back into the past.

Granted, I can’t touch or speak to anyone in my past, but what I experience is so exhilarating. Short-lived but a boost of endorphins and emotional pleasure wash over me.

As I have mentioned earlier, I was born into poverty and as such, drew pleasure from the simplest of things. My mother cooked spaghetti for herself and four kids. The batch needed to feed us all was so big she had to mix it up in a wash tub. Today, spaghetti is one of my favorite dishes. When I see a wash tub in that instant I am transported. I am back inside a tiny trailer in the Hatchie woods. No air conditioning. No running water. Eating spaghetti and garlic loaf bread with gusto!

When I smell a fresh-lit gas heater the smell doesn’t hesitate to send me back to the early 70s. My grandmother and I were the first ones out of bed every morning. She lit the big gas heater in the dining room. The smell would fill the room and I am not sure if it was poisoning us at the time.

I would drink from the silver dipper at the water bucket. Wash my hands and unload the things we needed from the refrigerator. A couple dozen eggs, butter, milk, buttermilk, bacon, sausage, and fatback.

I am mesmerized by the breeze of a simple box fan and the sound of one puts me back with my father. I have a medical issue that prevents me from sweating. I had this issue when I was a child but didn’t realize it was not normal. I always assumed I was just a runt and stayed weak all the time.

My dad would run the garden tiller for his parents and when I got too hot I had to go to a bedroom with a box fan in a window. That and a wet cloth was my only relief. There were so many times I would just stroke out under the box fan and the calming sound would put me to sleep. Usually, an hour later I would wake up to the sound of the tiller still running.

I don’t chew gum so much anymore. When I was a young teen I chewed the little nuggets in a drawstring pouch–like a gold prospector would use. Novelty, I suppose attracted me to it. When I smell watermelon Hubba Bubba or Bubblicious it puts me in a car with a cousin, my brother and a family friend. We were cruising and the guy leaned in and kissed me. I only remember the smell of that gum.

My mother had a rough time with me when I was growing up. With my long list of medical issues she had lost lots of sleep. There were times when we were still awake during the wee hours of the night. She cooked tea cakes and the two of us would watch weird scary B movies.

I remember a headless man movie, plenty of ones about bugs and on good nights we got Abbot and Costello jewels.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will host a month-long series of screenings of classic horror films with “Universal’s Legacy of Horror” in October. The series is part of the studio’s year-long 100th anniversary celebration engaging Universal’s fans and all movie lovers in the art of moviemaking. Pictured: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Glenn Strange, Lon Chaney, Jr., and Bela Lugosi in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, 1948.

Occasionally, I will come across an old vehicle with an exhaust leak that puts me back to my childhood. There was a rare instance when the entire family and the family of my uncle/Mom’s brother got to go to the movies. My uncle Donald had a van and we loaded into it, but there was such a bad exhaust leak we couldn’t stay inside.

Oldie

So, yes I did find the secret to time travel. I can control what timeline I am transported to…just smell, listen to or look at certain things and I am there.

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