@3rail posted:Whenever I open up that sealed bag I have, I can smell the lichen and it immediately takes me back to some of my layouts I built as a kid. Scent has a way of rekindling memories. I will never get rid of that plastic bag of memories.
Oh yes! For me, too, smell can definitely trigger memories. In the model railroad realm, there's two that really trigger good memories:
1. When I open a bottle of Solvaset decal setting solution.
2. When I open a bottle of original formula Floquil.
Both of those aroma's take me back to my basement in KC as young teenager during that time that I was working on my second layout. It was with that layout that begin to learn how to paint and decal my own equipment.
Lichen? I can't remember the last time I've gotten a whiff of lichen... but I recall the boxes of Life Like's lichen I used as a kid on my first layout. In fact, I can still "smell" it in my mind. IF I ever see a box of Life Like lichen somewhere, I would be inclined to purchase it just to keep around for "memory whiffing" every now and then!
Other "smell triggers":
* Oil of wintergreen. Immediately takes me back to the slot racing race tracks when I was teen. We used oil of wintergreen as a tire traction additive.
* Certain aroma's from coffee (like when I first open a fresh can). This one was a puzzle. Every now and then I would get such a coffee whiff... and my mind would transport me to when I was a kid walking to school for my K-grade 1-2 grade years! This one had me stumped. One day long after I was married and my parents were aging, we were talking about memories and I mentioned this unusual coffee memory trigger. Dad said "That one's easy: Folgers Coffee". Huh? Yup, during my earlier years, we were within striking distance of the Folgers Coffee plant in KC, and that aroma was Folgers roasting their coffee beans!! It was particularly more aromatic on a crisp morning.
I could go on with "memory whiffs", but I stop at this point.
Glycerin:
According to articles past, you want "industrial" grade glycerin. Far cheaper than consumer grade/hygiene glycerin. Dave Frary has a book about scenery that talks about the lichen pickling process in detail, including a recipe for pickling lichen. Dave describes step by step how to go about pickling lichen.
Fun thread!
Andre
