THAT SCENT: Kristie Bentley of Grayslake, Ill., writes, “The
powerful memories recalled by certain foods and scents never cease
to amaze me. I was eating an orange of epic size for breakfast this
morning. While I was peeling it, I recalled delivering fruit during
the December fruit drive held by the Marching Owls.”

“My father drove me from house to house in his pick-up as we
battled the slushy roads and freezing air. The interior of the
truck smelled like tools, wet wool, cardboard and citrus peel. My
jeans were wet to the knees from slogging through various depths of
snow drifts and my hair was soggy under my stocking hat.

“I had long ago abandoned my sodden mittens and my fingers were
white and shriveled from the cold wind.

“After our last delivery we headed home, anxious for warmth and
supper. We entered the house shedding wet coats and boots. I was
just changing my clothing when my mother asked, ‘Where is Missy?’
We countered with, ‘We don’t know – where is Missy?’ as if it were
the puzzle of the day.

“My mother looked horrified and only then did it dawn on us that
we had neglected to pick her up from the library.

“We hurried the four miles to town and found a nearly frozen,
and might I add, very angry Missy on the steps of the Carnegie
library. She had sheltered in the phone booth across the street for
a time, calling in to home every so often. Which reminds me, my
mother always told us to keep a couple of dimes in our pocket or
purse in case we had to call home from a pay phone. This was way
before the time when cell phones took over the world.

“See, young people, there was life before cell phones!”

BOOK NOTES: Bill Herzog of Bradford phoned with a local angle as
he was reading the book, “Down to the Sea,” by Bruce Henderson. In
it, mention is made of a sailor Robert Strand of Ridgway. The book
is about destroyers that were lost during World War II. Maybe one
of our Elk County friends can fill in the details?