time travel

have you ever been transported back in time by a sound, a taste, a fragrance? it's not deja vu, it is a memory triggered by current events. that is what happened to me tonight.

it was girl's night out and my friend and i were having dinner before our movie started. i had ordered a cheeseburger. nothing exotic, just a basic, fast food cheeseburger. we sat down and began to eat. i took my first bite, and immediately was transported back to my childhood.

when i was a child, trips to the doctor or dentist often meant visiting our local medical school/teaching hospital. as a reward my parents would sometimes take my brother and i to a nearby small restaurant after our appointments. it was called the carousel and it specialized in hamburgers and milkshakes. us kids liked it because they cooked the burgers and then we could put anything we wanted on it. heaven for a picky kid like me! the dining area was decorated with clowns and many of the seats were in the shape of carousel animals, hence the name of the restaurant. we always looked forward to going there, and always felt like we had had a treat.

when i bit into my cheeseburger tonight, it tasted EXACTLY like the burgers from the carousel. juicy, charbroiled (different than the flame broiled burgers that some other fast food places serve), and with only the stuff i liked on it. the sensation was unexpected, but the memory it generated was pleasant. for a moment i was 8 years old again, at the carousel, sitting on a giraffe and eating a hamburger while looking at the clowns painted on the walls. just as quickly, i was back in the food court at the mall, seated across from my friend, wondering where the time has gone.

memories make time travel possible -- "when" have you been recently?