Breathe in, feel the air over the water. Breathe out, hear the crash of the waves against a concrete shoreline. My go-to breathing place in my mind is on top of a rock in the winds on a cloudy day about 73 degrees and cloudy and breezy like fall weather in the northeastern United States.
Does the weather drive us?
My husband and I walked a path through a park on our way to the pier in Chicago in June 2022.
I stood for a few seconds with my arms outstretched and the bells of my black sleeves waved like flags in the Great Lake air. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as soft rain fell.
My skin cooled and my lungs opened.
The COVID-19 pandemic kept us home bound for two years. I emerged a fattened cocoon ready to burst into a butterfly and travel.
See and experience new things with my senses and not through a screen.
The sky in Chicago is moody. The city is known for its street-whipping winds. I don’t mind the clouds that allow me to feel the sun’s warmth without being blinded by its light.
If you hold the phone to your ear, you can hear the ocean.