There are three ways I can come home from where I work. Depending on what my errands were after work - groceries, the bank, etc. - I might come home on the freeway, or through the middle of town.
My favorite is to drive home on Marine Drive. In town it's lined with an eclectic mix of 1950's and Victorian style homes built in the late 1800's with their beautiful gardens.
This is the view when I get to drive home
without errands
And just a few weeks out of the year at the beginning of the summer this ground cover plant begins to bloom and for just a few hundred yards a wonderful fragrance will "waft" its way into my car. The area where it was growing used to have homes there, but the airport bought them all out and moved the houses but left the landscaping. Over the past 15 years that we have lived out here, this plant has grown from one small 8 or 10 foot square patch to a hundred feet or so long and 10 or 15 feet in from the road. It seems hardy and has never winter killed that I can tell. I don't know what it is, but it sure smells good.
When I finally get home (it's only 20 or so minutes max) here is where I park - under this canopy of a River Birch tree with the late afternoon sun peeking through the branches. Sometimes, if the neighbor doesn't have his outside radio on, I will just sit, close my eyes and listen to the birds and the wind in the trees.
Sometimes I might read a chapter or two in the book I have along or browse through the issue of the latest "O" Magazine that's hanging around in my front seat. Anything, just to shake off the cares of the day.
It's my decompression chamber.
1 comment:
What a great decompression chamber it is!
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