Popcorn, Blueberries, & Doug May Cause Nostalgia

Nostalgia

Function: noun
1 : the state of being homesick : HOMESICKNESS
2 : a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition; also : something that evokes nostalgia (Merriam-Webster)

Nostalgia is a feeling that is relatively new to me. I am only 21 years-old, I have lived in the same house for the entirety of my existence, and I have a relatively simple, yet good life. But in the last year or so, I have experienced a strange, yet vague sense of familiarity in little things. Things such as tunes, smells, cartoons, and, especially food. When I recently encountered these almost forgotten parts of my childhood, I, for the first time ever experienced nostalgia.

A couple of months ago my mom decided to make stove-top popcorn, because my cousin had told us that she eats it and never microwave popcorn. It had been many years since my mom or I had had stove-top popcorn. I took one bite and my brain began to tingle. I was taken back to when I was about 6 or 7 years old, spending Wednesday evenings with my great-grandmother, who would pop popcorn with Crisco on the stove. We would eat the popcorn while making a collage out on magazine clippings.

Another food that has the same affect is blueberries. My grandparents had about ten huge blueberry bushes in their backyard when I was a child. I used to spend the longest time eating blueberries right off the bush. Nina (my grandmother) would make blueberry cobbler. It was delicious with ice cream.

Thanks to Youtube, we are now able to view television programs that we haven’t viewed in years, anytime we want. One thing I enjoy is the theme songs of cartoons I grew up with. Cartoons were awesome when I was a kid, and so where their theme songs. Nickelodeon’s Doug (the original), Rugrats, and Hey Arnold, Bill Nye the Science Guy, CatDog and Angry Beavers all have theme songs I remember so well. It always amazes me how music will stick with you.

The human brain never ceases to amaze me. It does not want to forget.