smell and memories

A strange thing happened around noon. I walked out of my office and noticed a familiar smell. It couldn't have been true and I didn't try to locate it, but it quickly took me back to the gymnasium at Centerville Elementary. The halls of the Park Building smelled like school lunch today -- elementary school lunch. I think mostly the fake potatoes scooped with that big ice cream scoop, the back of which gently smashed a well into the mound to hold the light brown gravy. I could see the lunch set up: the tables on either side of the gym pulled out from the walls; trays; small milk containers; the lunch line; the bar where we placed our trays and waited for plates to be filled with hot food (and the potatoes); even the lunch ladies and Mr. Heinz (the friendly custodian) walking around reminding all the kids to take their trays and trash to the garbage. It was a pleasant and unexpected memory. My childhood was a good one.