oh, there is just nothing like the smell of the countryside. (we call it "the province"...) the sweet hot scent of dry grass...pungent rice straw smoke...wild scent of mountain pine and bamboo wafting over the fields...

as i leave the city, the knot in my stomach starts to relax. my mind starts to click along like a well-oiled little engine. the tension in my shoulders eases, even though i'm driving a huge vehicle that challenges my frame. as we get closer to the ocean, there a bubbling feeling in my heart. i feel like singing, like rolling down the windows and shouting "i'm alive! i'm alive!"

i love my city, don't get me wrong. but there are a lot of toxins in the air, i think, that just clog me up. slow me down. make me lazy and irritable.

thank you Lord, for the privilege of living in both places...in the city when im needed, and the rejuvenating respite in the "province" by the sea.