Ok, not really physically in Williamsburg. Virginia, that is.  But I am mentally there.  Do you ever wake up and the breeze smells a certain way, or the light filters through the trees just so, and suddenly you are somewhere else? That is exactly what happened to me today. I opened the windows around lunchtime, and then Flashback.

The warm summer breeze wafted in, the leaves swayed, and the intensely blue cloudless sky framed everything around.  In an instant, I was driving down a country road, taking the  ”back way”  from Newport News to Williamsburg, passing long stretches of white split rail fences and horses grazing in large fields.  Towering trees along the roadside feel like a soft but  incomplete tunnel, making the roadway look like marble with splotchy areas of sun and shade  The air fluctuates between warm and cool as I pass in and out of shady spots.  And the smell of the air…..  It’s an indescribable mix of grass, horses, hydrangeas, dampness and pine . It gets me every time….I breathe deep and smile.

ZAPBACK. My son comes in the room to tell me that Tornado Watches are out for our area. Back to reality. Back to the Midwest, which is beautiful in its own way. Time to make sure our emergency preparedness plans are in place.  But as soon as that’s done, I’m heading back to that country road near Williamsburg.  After all, mental vacations are free, and you can take them as often as you like. Well, unless people began to think you might have a “problem”.  

But…..but…..the air, the smell of the warm breeze…..I cannot resist……