Freshness

I went to the store this morning to pick up the paper -- and a doughnut; my daughter is much happier when her Sundays start with one. I thought briefly of that hotel we were in yesterday, and how we'd still have been there this morning if the person we'd gone to see had made it to the finals. This being home is better than being there. I do feel a little unhappy that she didn't get to hang out with some of the people from her school, but even there, not a lot unhappy, as the only time we saw them, they were congregating on the walkway outside of their hotel rooms, being somewhat rowdy. Perhaps I'm a bit overprotective, but the idea of letting her wander around with them still gives me the willies, a bit. Overall, this was okay -- even if I did end up driving nine hours in two days, eating semi-crummy pizza in a dank hotel room, and all of that. She got her primary goal -- seeing her cousin perform. I can live with the rest.

Though, last night, I told her that I was sorry that she didn't get to see her friends, and said that if they did it again, I'd be willing to bring her down. To which she sharply and immediately replied "I am not going to that hotel again!" We're of one mind on that. I know that people who are going to a beach town aren't going for elegance and comfort, but even so, the lack of anything remotely resembling that level of accommodations there still surprises me.

On the way back from the store, I had the window rolled down so that I could feel the moist air -- it's drizzling slightly, here, and feels like it'll rain some more. I liked the feeling. It somewhat reminded me of the feeling in the air on occasion when I was in basic training for the Air Force. Not that that was a delightful experience -- I still recall polishing my boots, one morning, thinking that some day I would look back on that whole experience and tell myself that it was actually not that bad -- but it was! There were times, though, when it wasn't all that bad. Inhaling the cool, fresh air in the morning darkness was one of those times. Inhaling that scent this morning -- it made me feel young.