Proust Question 2

What is your favorite journey?

It is tough to narrow this down to one journey.  I enjoy returning to Illinois and our home there in the Spring. Carol finds it odd but I truly miss the smell of fresh turned dirt. The earthy smell of it reminds me of the springs of my youth. I don't mind being in Illinois for the summer heat. The heat brings those special treats that belong to the Midwest. Blackberries and black raspberries fresh off the vine. The best sweet corn you can get anywhere. The sweet corn they sell in Georgia is barely edible. So the journey north calls me in the Spring. Depending on how things go I am at least in the fall of my life and perhaps I have started winter. There really is no way to be sure. I am certain the flower of my spring has faded away. The summer of growth and productivity has passed. Yes, fall has arrived. The leaves have turned, the gray in my beard and the age spots on my hands provide ample evidence of fall. So while I enjoy the journey to home of my youth in the spring there is another journey I look forward to with equal anticipation. The return to the mild winters of Tybee. The sound of the waves breaking against the shore. The call of the ever present gulls. The smell of the salt in the ocean air. In the winter of my life I am looking for the mild embrace of the Georgia winter. A brief dip or two into the high 20's or low 30's. The mild afternoons in the 50's and 60's.  If last winter was any forecaster of things to come we should not see snow again here until sometime in the late 2030's. I'm good with that forecast. I have scooped plenty of snow up north. I have not had to shovel sunshine down here on the coast. So the journey for me is north and south depending on the season. The difficult part is choosing to be happy wherever you are. My happiness is assured as long as I can enjoy the company of my wonderful wife and the companionship of a couple of great dogs. The three of them make the journey worthwhile.