Have you ever heard of Cucumber Sandwich popcorn?Yeah, me neither. But a local popcorn place here in Northwest Indiana devised this salty, dilly, delicious concoction to which I am addicted. I like salty, savory snacks, so maybe it’s no surprise that I’m such a big fan of the Cucumber Sandwich flavor.However, I think part of the reason I like it has to do with something I’ve been thinking about recently.For last night’s Blogapalooz-Hour challenge I wrote a post about missing yesterday. In writing the post, I thought of some things that I hadn’t thought about for quite some time.Usually when a latent memory surfaces it’s not because I’ve requested it. Rare are the moments when I, or anyone else for that matter, can sit down and think, “Bring me back to a summer day in 1997 when I owned that blue Pontiac Grand Prix.”Instead, we’re transported back to that day when A Long December by Counting Crows comes on the radio.Why is that?The power of smells, sounds and tastes to instantly transport us back to some moment is thrilling.The first time I tasted Cucumber Sandwich popcorn I immediately thought of eating a Steak ‘n Shake steakburger one late Friday night in the backseat of our family’s station wagon in the late 1980s. How did I get there?At the time there was no Steak ‘n Shake near our home, and my dad loves that restaurant. So every time we went to visit my grandparents—which was usually on a weekend, and often on Fridays after my mom got home from work—we’d stop at Steak ‘n Shake near there.And it turns out that the Cucumber Sandwich popcorn—maybe it’s the dill—tastes just like the pickles from a Steak ‘n Shake steakburger.It works with smells too.We didn’t see my other grandparents as often since they lived in New York. However, I have vivid memories of a particular smell from their basement. I asked my grandpa about this smell one time while he was visiting us in Illinois, and he said it was a bug repellent plant that my grandma bought.I’ve tried to track down this smell, but I’ve never succeeded. Ask me to describe the smell, and I’ll fail completely. But put me within 300 yards of a single particle of that fragrance and I’ll identify it instantly and be taken to a place 900 miles away and 25 years ago.Chocolate chip cookies, sage Thanksgiving stuffing, a certain unidentified floral scent, and freshly cut grass all have unique olfactory powers over me.Perhaps the most intense power of recall is attributable to music. I could probably write three or four separate posts entirely about songs that take me to certain places.A short selection:This incredible ham commercial song takes me back to being up late one night when I was a kid.Livin’ on a Prayer brings me back to my mom’s cousin’s house on Long Island and listening to Slippery When Wet on vinyl with his huge headphones.Two Princes by the Spin Doctors is a 1985 Dodge Daytona.Counting Blue Cars is hanging out at Valparaiso University one rainy afternoon while I was still in high school.I Try by Macy Gray is driving to Cleveland in a Chevy Lumina.I could go on and on, but these are my songs and my memories, and I’m getting tired from all of this bouncing around in time and place. You probably have your own memories and other songs, tastes and smells associated with them.You might not think you do, but you do. Because years go by and we change, and the world around us changes, but the songs, the smells and the tastes remain the same.And our brains are capable of performing wondrous things, like storing away memories without our knowledge.Then one day a song comes on the radio, or we taste a certain ingredient, or we smell a particular particle, and the memory returns. We’re in a different time. We’re in a different place.And we hadn’t even planned to leave.By the way, if you like what you're reading here, you should like my Facebook page, Brett Baker Writes.Type your email address in the box and click the "create subscription" button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.