Primal Pennsylvania Ponderings

We spent a couple days in Philadelphia last weekend. This post is not about what we saw. It is simply about a couple major primal responses.

a) The buzz-saw sound of cicadas in August. Yes, we have them in the Midwest. Yes, I have heard them many times since I left my birth-state of Pennsylvania 28 years ago. But there is a primal response on a warm and humid day in August when they buzz through the summer air. Neurotransmitters exude whatever chemicals take one back over half a century or more.

b) The tongue-tingling response to the unique taste of Tastykake Chocolate Cupcakes. Which naturally also reminded me of the late Phillies ballplayer and announcer, Richie Ashburn. Ah, to be in Philly, even for a weekend.

The human brain and memory is an amazing, mysterious thing. That these would be the source of such immediate and deeply felt emotional responses is almost magical.