The walk around my neighborhood has become quite a ritual for me. I have found that the best time to walk is after 10pm. The first few hundred yards are a cacophony of sound as I make my way to the main road, turn left, and then make my way 60 yards to the northernmost point. Passing cars, a/c units, arriving air traffic allow me to get into the rhythm without hearing myself. As soon as i make the turn westward, the noise begins to wane until about 100 yards back from the main thoroughfare I become acutely aware of my own footsteps. The tempo becomes steady and perfect, and I have an uncontrollable urge to make my steps as silent as possible. Before long, my feet fall into the stealthy and steady gait, and I begin to take in the silence of the night.
The smells come next. Without any visual ques, I have begun to be measure my progress by the scents of the trek. Every portion of the circuit has its own distinct aroma. It starts with the first two story house. It is always perfectly landscaped with a big chimney in front and a flag pole. The breezy smell of jasmine alerts me to the address, and most nights is discernable one house before and two beyond. On nights with a westerly wind, I can smell the chlorine of the pool at the back corner of the walk. The smell always tricks my mind into thinking I smell sunscreen and burning concrete. Rounding the corner, the pool is quickly lost to the smell of a dingy corner lot that smells like cat. I hate that spot, but it falls at the perfect spot in the walk to make me return to my original pace, which has slowed by 4 or 5 beats by this point. There are the smells of pine sap, and pecan trees, and the damp smell under the umbrellas of the two big water oaks. Then there’s my favorite. On one stretch, there is a lonely magnolia tree. Tonight was the first time this year that I could smell it before I could see it. It has started to bloom, and the sweet, heavy smell of its huge flowers hung thick for a full block. Tonight, I stopped under the canopy on the corner and took it in for a moment. This was the sign I had been waiting for. The clean scent of magnolia has announced the arrival of summer. Ecclesiastes coined it best. There’s a time for everything, and for everything a season.
I hope that in the busy next few days, you get to take a walk. Notice everything. Take time to take it all in. be observant. Because on my walk, right after the magnolia tree and the big leaning stump, I make a right hand turn that takes me back towards the busy road and to my house. Back to homework, and all of the crisis that makes up life, dirty dishes, and the schedule of tomorrow. Go outside, stretch your legs, and let God remind you that for everything there’s a season and a time. You just might miss it.
~md
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(sorry Ray).
