The Sublime Air

There is nothing more lovely and soothing to me in this world than the air after the rain. I went to band practice today and it was raining. I left at nine o'clock, or thereabouts, and it was that cool fresh air of early spring. The kind of air that makes you want to breathe deep over and over and over again. I stood for a while just feeling the air and breathing and relishing the cool richness of it. It is a phenomenon and a marvel to me, for under no other circumstances does the air around me have such an effect. I drove home with the window open, even though it was probably under 60 degrees, and I often stuck my hand out the window to caress the air currents sweeping through my fingers. I can't say why it held such a distinct feeling of pleasure for me, and as I write this I realize how utterly weird I am to talk like this, let alone have such feelings. But the air was the most sublime coolness I have experienced in a long time. I almost pity my brother, traveling in the hot Middle East, who can't feel the wonderful pleasure of the cool refreshing spring after a long Minnesota winter. ... Almost.