I'm here. But am I awake enough to take notice? My eyes, open. Can I really see? I hear it, but am I listening? I sense something. Trust the feeling. "Elements are of no consequence when you are forever free." Live and let BE.
My eyes slowly flicker open, blinded by the brightness of day. Cocooned inside my mosquito net, I ponder an escape. I decide to escape. A cool breeze, something so foreign and seemingly unrecognizable, whispers through my window and tickles my skin. I’ve hardly experienced any temperature under ninety. Even the nights seem to wrap me up in a suffocating blanket of heat. This breeze has me itching to get out for a morning run. I swing my legs over the side of the bed and rest my feet on the floor. I wiggle my toes awake. I take in a deep breath, stand up and slowly fumbling through each step, make my way to the kitchen to fill up my nalgene. Every morning, I wake to such an extreme thirst I feel completely and utterly depleted and like I’m choking on sand. With the end to the hot season near, I sense this chill in the air might bring with it the promise of rain and cooler temperatures. I gargle down a liter of water in a matter of seconds, dreaming of this oasis.
I lace up my shoes and I'm out the door. Without even a moments’ notice, a gust of wind quickly arouses a seemingly violent storm of sand and dust that has me gasping for air or water or something. Now, I am actually choking on sand and that oasis I was dreaming of quickly vanishes from thought. In spite of this, I run on.
Though I am lacking in energy, I somehow have more bound in my step. Echoing through the trees, I hear the “caw, caw, caw” of a familiar bird. A pied crow is perched on the tree branch just above me, curiously watching me trample below. My spirit bird, the raven, must have sent him. Deep reds and bright violets speckle the ground beneath my feet. The trees, once in full bloom, are counting down the days to summer and as they do, are slowly letting go of their spring flowers. It is a peaceful morning so I slow my pace a bit, deciding there is no need to hurry this one. I round out Twin Palm Road and hang a right down Kabulonga. This street usually fairs quite busy with speeding cars and honking buses and when I reach its end, I’m usually bombarded with horrific smells enough to singe the hairs from my nose. Today, however, is different. It’s relatively calm and I can’t smell the rot. The sound of my feathered friend follows me and all I can smell is the perfume of those beautiful red and purple flowering trees through the blissful breeze.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, breathe.
It was early afternoon, I could see a beautiful thunderhead off in the distance. Fierce pillows of white and black permeated the magnificent blue sky. In a matter of minutes, the clouds opened up and the first of the seasons rains fell.