Evocative

What memories are evoked by one whiff of a fragrance. Years fall away and the mind is transported back to sunny days on the long walk home from school(children would be bussed that distance now). Opening up the bright yellow blossoms, looking for "caterpillars".

Or youth group trips to Cumbrae and cycling around the island accompanied by that fragrance at every turn.

It seemed then, and still does, quite oriental. Like coconut. But now it can be bought encaptured in a candle. No need to walk or to cycle. Simply strike a match, release the fragrance of wild gorse and all those memories come flooding back.

The whole of life can be played out in our living rooms, from global disasters on our TV screens to scents of childhood. We can have it all without moving from the sofa.

Can we ever recapture the idealism we once had? The desire to change the world, to make a difference? Or has that too been domesticated and sanitised and dulled by familiarity?

When the world becomes so small and so intimate we forget that it still needs changed so that every child's memories are of nature's scents and not the stench of war and poverty.

We have a responsibilty to be creators of memories that sustain and that give life and enhance the future for others.