False Start

I figured something out.  Soon after, I discovered I was wrong.

I’m not dwelling on it, I know some of you don’t want to see me leave Florida.  I will sincerely miss many of you when I go.  But after more than two decades in this heated shit-hole, in spite of my love for you all, I am counting the days (roughly 880 but yeah, I’m not dwelling on it or anything…) until we finally get to plan our escape.  I’m shooting for the Arctic Circle, Teresa wants something just a bit further south.  Anyway, it’s still an open count because if Becca decides on an in-state college, we’ll probably stick around for another few years.

BUT after years of living here, today I finally found the one thing (other than people) that I will miss when I leave Florida.  The smell of fresh-cut grass on the cold winter air.  Oh it was amazing!  I had to leave the dungeon today and when I came topside I found that they had just mowed the grass.  The air was cold and the smell just lit me up from the inside.  It was incredible!  I thought to myself, THIS is something I could miss.  You don’t cut the lawn with three feet of snow.  In all the years I’ve lived in this state I’ve never found one thing (other than people) I will miss when I leave it all behind.  Then this scent, this feeling crept into me and suddenly I can count ONE thing…

After about three seconds of intoxicating bliss, I came crashing back down to reality.  Hey dumbass, that’s the ordinary smell of cutting the lawn in September/October or April/May in the latitudes you long for.  The reason you feel so exhilarated is because it’s a fond memory of childhood, not because it’s a newly discovered yearning.  It’s not a reason to stay in Florida, it’s just one more reason to leave!

Ohh I wish I could have bottled that feeling though.  I’ve burned the Yankee Candle’s “Fresh-Cut Grass” and it was nice but when you put it on that frigid air…  Seriously, it was like getting high…  I’m going home and mow the lawn tonight…