Today it smells like freedom.
Don't get me wrong we're still in lockdown, we can't go anywhere.
But this morning, when I opened my window to change the air in my room, there was something different in the air.
No smog, no smell of bars or shops opening, no noise of busy cars...I mean ours was always a quiet neighborhood, but still, there was something...something new...
It smelled like the air at the beach house in the winter, or in an early morning summer day. Yes, it smelled like a summer morning, 6 am, you went to bed at 5 am because you were partying with your friends last night, but you set an alarm clock to go see the sunrise.
So at 6 am the clock goes on, you manage to get some shoes, put a sweater on, grab the keys and you are out of the house. As soon as you step out the chilly air surrounds you, it's like a gentle 'wake up'....you look at your phone is 6:15, dammit! You look at your friend (just a look, cause you're still too tired to talk) and you start running (or you would miss the sunrise), you run through the sleeping city, the air gets faster and faster and your muscles hurt because they haven't woken up yet.
You see an old lady riding her bike to the beach, this early so 'there is no crowed and the sun doesn't burn', you slow down so you don't disturb her morning. Then you keep running, you turn around and your friends are there running with you, smiling and laughing and the breeze brings you those sounds like they were new sounds and you feel so lucky all over again to have them in your life.
You cross the street and you arrive in the pinewood (between the town and the beach on the eastern coast of Italy we usually have pinewoods, planted in Roman times) and the smells change again: now it smells like trees and flowers and leaves and old wood...it smells like wildness and animals and nature... you keep running (slower otherwise the pine needles will hurt you through the flip flops you have on).
You pass a guy jogging and a woman dressed up for work with her dog, then you see a tired mom with a stroller and a kid who isn't letting her sleep.
And then....it's there. A new stronger wind salutes you: it's not annoying or too cold, it's just a strong confident wing, which brings you the smells of the sea.
You sit down on the cold and humid sand, you're still in your pajamas and the smells of your bed, the pinewood, and the sea all melt together. The salty air surrounds you as you keep following with your tired gaze the journaling of the sun...it detaches from the water and it keeps going higher and higher up....now your eyes hurt if you try to watch it, so you move away and you turn down to the sea...
You see a golden river running in the middle of the water, a gentle caress of the sun to the motherland, a 'Good morning' to the rivers, the seas, the lakes, a 'Thank you' for their daily work of lifting him up.
And you stay there, still half asleep, watching the mesmerizing movements of reflections on the watery surface.
You can feel your friends all around you, all astonished by the same magic, all looking at the same miracle, all embedded in the same moment...
And you just feel peaceful and quiet and...
A seagull moves his wings and sends you a new wave of air in your direction, you close your eyes and take it all in....and you understand that that air tastes like history, like the people who witnessed this miracle before you and the thousands of hundreds of people who will witness it after you...
Yes, the air smells like freedom today.
Fennec Fox
P.S. Thank you soo much for riding, I just felt like sharing this little image I got in mind this morning as I opened the window, since most of us are stuck at home, it was a friendly reminder that we can still travel through time and space with our memories.
Have a great day and stay safe <3
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