Salt Air

Well – it’s been awhile. But no one noticed so who cares! HAH!
So – salt air. What is that about? It’s very hard to describe to someone who has not experienced it. Salt air is just different from other air. First of all its moist so there is no dried out sinus headache when you are at the beach. The smell is alternately cool and warm. Cool, reminiscent of snow or ice but warm like the sand under your feet after just a couple hours of the sun on it.
I never knew what it was all about when I lived at the beach. But now I appreciate it so much more.
Now that I do not live at the beach anymore – when I go back there the air provides a sense of calm that I don’t get anywhere else. I can tell you right when I smell it – it’s when I am about one hour from my final destination. At that point in my journey to the beach I am on a highway that is built right over the back bays and marshes. The ocean itself is ten miles or less to my left and the water around me is actually brackish – not salt. But it is enough to make a subtle change in the air. This is when the calm starts. This is when I start breathing a little easier than I do during the everyday rat race that is my life. And when I finally arrive at my destination the transition of the air is complete. I get out of the car and always take a deep breath. I’ve heard this kind of breath referred to as a cleansing breath. I do this unconsciously now. This is the time that I feel it – a completely warm, cashmere blanket soft, calm wash over my entire being.
I feel safe.
I wish I could tell you that it lasts, but in a few short seconds I will walk into my parents home and well – like everyone there is drama in the family.
But for a second, it's safe.