Sensory Overload

I was scouring a pan in my kitchen sink.
I was using a Brillo pad.
For just a second, I was back in my driveway on the street where I grew up.
For just a second, I was a very young girl.

A young girl who loved to do any job that involved water.
Wiping the baseboards with my own rag and bucket.
Doing the dishes, but mostly playing with the soap suds.
Washing the whitewall tires of our car until they shone.

Back then, cars had whitewall tires.
Wide whitewall tires reached the height of their popularity in the 1950s.
By 1962, their popularity was fading.
By the 1970s, whitewalls remained an option but was considered a traditional luxury.

However, back in the early 1960s our car had wide whitewall tires.
They were hard to keep clean.
After the car was washed in the driveway, it was my job to clean the whitewalls.
It was a job I asked to do; it was a job I loved.

I was given my own Brillo pad.
I would dip it in the bucket and see the pink soap beginning to foam when I squeezed it.
I would set out to clean the black marks off the whitewall tires.
Instead of black marks, the tries turned pink from the soap in the pad.

Then the fun began.
I was allowed to take the hose and spray each of the tires.
All the pink suds went down the driveway.
All that was left was clean white tires.

It was so much fun to use the hose in my bare feet.
More water went between my toes than on the tires.
It was a way to cool off until I heard my name being called.
I knew it was time to get back to my task.

All those memories came back as I scoured a pan at the kitchen sink.
I was six years old again.
I was on my driveway helping to wash the car.
One Brillo pad took me back to that time all those years ago.

I remember a butcher shop that we used to go to that was not far away from our house.
There was always sawdust on the floor.
The smell of meats and cheeses filled the air.
The sawdust would stick to the bottom of my shoes.

I remember the barrels.
The large barrels that were right in front of the counter.
The barrels that had gigantic pickles inside.
The barrels that had a set of tongs so that you could choose your own pickle.

It was so much fun to lift the plastic lid and see all the pickles in the pickle juice, as I called it.
When I was big enough, I could use the tongs and get the pickle I wanted.
A piece of wax paper was nearby so I could wrap my pickle and put it on the counter.
The pickles were all the same price, but I always tried to get the biggest one.

When I bake, I remember the bakery we used to go to on the way to my grandmother’s house.
We would always stop to get her an assortment of pastries.
There would always be jelly donuts, crullers, donuts with icing, and her favorite cookies.
The man would put our selections in a white box and tie the box with a string.

It was my job to hold the box on my lap in the car to make sure it stayed upright.
It was my job to bring it into my grandmother’s house, holding it by the knot on the string.
It was her job to eat what we brought her, except the one cookie that was always mine.
The butter cookie with the little dab of vanilla icing in the center.

The man at the bakery always put that cookie right in the center of the box.
For you, Miss, he would say with a smile and a wink.
For me, all for me.
I made sure to keep the box very straight.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. (1 John 1:1-4)

Sensory Overload.
That is not always a bad thing.
Sometimes the littlest thing reminds us of something else.
The sights, smells, and sounds can easily bring us back to another time.

This world provides so much for us to see, and hear, and taste, and touch.
All of our five senses come alive!
God designed the world that way.
He designed this world for our pleasure and His glory.

We get annoyed at the rain and fail to see the raindrops dance on the window.
We are tired of the cold but forget how cozy it is to sit by the fire.
We complain about the weeds instead of focusing on the flowers that are bursting forth.
We want a little peace and quiet never thinking that those tiny voices will one day grow up.

God gave us five senses to enjoy all that He has made.
He wants us to fully experience this world He created.
He created all of this beauty for us to enjoy.
Have you thanked Him?

Have you spent time marveling at the abundance of things He created?
Have you pondered the absence of any of the things that you enjoy?
Have you taken for granted the marvelous sensory overload each day brings?
Have you rejoiced because you can see, and hear, and taste, and smell?

Have you?
Have I?
This world is a feast for our senses.
To think that one little Brillo pad reminded me.

2 responses to “Sensory Overload”

1. Gina, years ago I came across several books on nature. One was “A Natural History of the Senses” by Diane Ackerman. It is fascinating! She explores our senses in a wonderful, artistic way. I think you’d enjoy it a lot. I don’t remember if she gives God the credit, but we certainly do, don’t we?

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   • Yes, we do, Sue! God is an amazing artist! He has given us such incredible things to enjoy and five senses to enjoy them with. God gets all the glory!
     Gina

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