That Smell

Maybe I've felt that once before. The same thing I felt outside the office building this morning in the freshness of the morning. The sun was not yet hot but it was warming the Earth. The sky wasn't cloudy or perfectly clear; there was some haze of morning -- not fog, not marine layer, this was truly a morning dew. A breeze blew over me, cool but gentle. Consider it a caress. One that put my mind in another time.

Suddenly I was 14 years old. Standing alone in my summer job. It would have been this exact time of year. And there I am, remembering what it was like at Solar Gardens, the plant nursery I worked at for 2 years after I was old enough to get a work permit. I think I made $4.25/hour. And the day would get progressively more hectic. It was an exhausting job to water, help customers, move plants, haul mulch, work the register and dig ditches. Basically I was the closest thing they could get to slave labor. But it was not entirely unpleasant. Something about working outside and being accepted with my long-hair as a stable worker was rewarding.

Anyway, that feeling stopped me dead in my tracks this morning. I had a moment of absolutely peace and clarity. I smiled at the sky, opened my arms wide to the breeze and made a mental note such that I would remember to open my heart to a blog entry 14 hours later. My day was busy. I interviewed a candidate for a new position in my department. I met with various colleagues; had phone conversations with Sr. VP's, discussed some inventory issues with various powers-that-be and ran two meetings including some awkward one-on-one. I love what I do a majority of my days. Today was one of them. I took no prisoners, completed the tasks in front of me and moved toward a common goal we all have of growing something wholesome: a brand that means authenticity and a group who wishes nothing more than to succeed in a colossal challenge.

But I'd have traded it all to have remained in the simplicity of Solar Gardens for just a few more moments.