wood processing is core to the finnish economy, and rauma has a large pulp mill. the smell of timber processing and wood pulp permeated everything in the area, and when i smell something similar now, it reminds me of saunas and nature and snow.
when i interned in new york city for a summer, i lived at 88th and york with my older sister stephanie. we shared a tiny studio apartment and i slept on a fold out chair on the floor. most times steph's then-boyfriend-now-husband david stayed there too. stephanie had two cats, and one, a kitten named shadow, went crazy every night and ran across my face as i tried to sleep.
the summer after my freshman year of college, i lived with my boyfriend's grandmother, mamie. i loved her. she was nice company, and was very sweet to me. i had a bright room, in the back of her house, and when i opened the windows, it smelled of flowers.