This week on the Romance Writer’s Weekly Blog Hop here’s our topic-What is the one thing that immediately sends you back to childhood? Is it a food, a scent, a swingset?

I had to think about this one. I have many varied, great memories of my childhood. Vacations with my family, Christmas mornings, participating in many outdoor activities with my brother and parents. When I saw “a scent” I immediately thought of the smell of burning leaves in the fall. My dad built a homemade fireplace at the rear of our back yard. In the summer he placed a grill in it and used it to cook hamburgers and hot dogs. We loved to roast marshmallows over the open flames. But the best of all was in the fall when we’d rake up all the leaves from our yard’s big trees, then we’d stuff the in the fireplace and light them. We’d stand around to keep warm in the cool, autumn evening air. The scent was heavenly 🙂 This was 60 years ago. Of course, today most cities have bans against outside burning of leaves. Here in Colorado where I reside, there is always a danger of wildfires, and no one is allowed to burn their leaves in their backyard. Still, that scent brings back memories of a happy, simpler time and of bonding with my family. Here’s a photo of Dad building the fireplace in 1954 with the help of my kitten, Pumpkin:

How about you? What brings you back to your childhood? After you’ve commented, hop over to Jenna Da Sie’s blog at https://jennadasie.com to hear her memories?