Pop Secret

I received a new Daily Challenge over the weekend: Recall a smell or taste that has a happy personal memory for you.

This was a no-brainer for me. I immediately thought of the smell of popcorn when I read this question. I link that smell to the many Saturday nights I spent at the Mundelein Cinema, waiting in the lobby with my friends before we got let in to see "Rocky Horror." One of my friends would buy a big box of popcorn and graciously share it with the rest of us. He's much more generous than I am. I tend to enjoy keeping a whole bag of microwave popcorn to myself; so much that I'll make multiple bags so my husband can have his own. I know it's not the same as movie theater popcorn, but the flavor still is necessary for movie enjoyment at home. Oddly enough, I end up eating candy in the theater these days. But I digress...
The smell of popcorn also reminds me of Capen Cinema at Illinois State University. My friends and I would go there to see second run movies all the time. I couldn't resist getting a bag of popcorn at each visit. It was inside a lecture hall, and we would try to sit in the balcony section whenever possible.
Finally, it reminds me of seeing movies at the Buffalo Grove theater, a place where I also saw a lot of second run films, either on dates or with friends. The popcorn was as reasonably priced as the films (those were the days...) and I actually would buy some from time to time.
Mostly, the smell of popcorn always brings me back to when I was able to go to movies all the time. I go to movies semi-frequently these days. Either I see family friendly movies or I see the latest comedies, provided we have a sitter available. I do love taking my kids to the movies, as long as they can sit back and enjoy it with me. (Thankfully, my younger son is pretty good at staying in one place, provided he has enough food.) The last movie we all saw in the theater was "Tangled." Our cousins joined us for that one and one of them bought a huge box of popcorn, sharing it with all of us.
I hope my kids will continue to enjoy watching movies with me and that I can occasionally get over the cost of tickets and snacks to treat them to the latest movie and a bag of freshly popped popcorn. Until then, it's all about DVDs and Orville Redenbacher....