Honeysuckle on the Air

I have detected the smell of honeysuckle on the air this week.  I forgot how many memories I associate with the smell.

I remember the smell of honeysuckle as a child.  It is inextricably tied to my childhood.  It reminds me of spring, of relaxation, of the temperate days before the summer heat.  The outdoors and what it meant to play.

I don't remember the smell of honeysuckle in my adolescence.  I don't remember the smell of honeysuckle in my 20s.  I know the honeysuckle bloomed in those years.  I was just too busy to smell it.  Perhaps it was not that I was too busy.  Perhaps I missed the honeysuckle because I was never outside.  After all it is not as if I am less busy now.

I will remember the smell of honeysuckle this year.  It is the last spring I will spend in Texas for some time.  I am drawn to the smell of honeysuckle in the air and I am determined to savor every minute of it. 

I am happy.  Happy to smell honeysuckle again.  Happy to be outdoors.  Again.  I am glad I had this chance, this moment.  To smell the honeysuckle this year.  To know what it means.  To remember.  To enjoy.  Again.

The Heat is Back On

Today's weather report notes a possibility of temperatures of 100+ degrees this week.  Not sure if this will create a second nice day or not.  Stay tuned...

The Last First Nice Day (?)

Summer in Texas is something that must be experienced to believe.  When you can see the waves of heat rising from the street, you know that despite what everyone says it is more than a trick of the eyes.  You don't remember the last time it rained.  You look past the water rationing level signs as if they don't exist.  Not because you don't care, but because you don't need to be told any more.

The heat starts in May.  You tell yourself it won't be as bad as last year, but it is, it always is.  You have friends from out of state that complain that its in the 90s and you think that you would actually pay for a day in the 90s.

The heat is worse in June.  You start to sweat inside even though the AC is set at a reasonable temperature.  You look for any excuse to wear shorts.  Winds start to kick up dust and it gets in your clothes, your hair, your mouth.

The heat in July surpasses imagination.  There isn't a need for a weather report on the evening news.  They know its hot, you know its hot.  Why bother.  Eventually the newsroom will make a game of counting how long it has been since the thermometer dropped below 100 degrees.

August is so hot that words can't describe how it feels unless you have experienced.

September shows no sign of letting up.  They put fall decor up in the stores.  Fake leaves and Halloween costumes.  Fall isn't coming.  Winter is a distant dream.

Then you have truly nice day.  A perfect day.  Your friends from out of state would call is hot, but its 90 degrees and for you its cause to celebrate.  Then it rains.  Small children look at the rain like its some sort of magic, some forgotten dream.  They may not ask what it is, but there is a moment when you know they want to.

There are no days quite as magical as the first nice day.  This is the day that restores your faith in the world.  This is the day you want to run and jump and shout for joy.  This is the day when you remember that you can go for a run in the park and not look like you might have gone for a swim.

This year the first nice day was on a Sunday.  It doesn't get any better than this.  There will be other days.  You will fool yourself into thinking that there is another first nice day in late February or early March,  but you know in your heart its not really the first nice day.  Then you wonder, if you leave, if you go somewhere without all the heat, if you go somewhere with rain, will there still be a first nice day?  In your heart you know the answer, and you wonder if those four months were worth it just for this one day.

Will you miss it?  Do you even need to ask?!

Taking care of a loved one = no formal post this week.

My wife is sick this week so I will not be writing a traditional post.  Instead I leave you with the words of a personal hero, who by the way I saw speak at the Paramount Theater (one of Austin's great treasurers) not too long ago.

"Next time I come to Austin I'm going to eat my way across town, trailer to trailer, until they find me in a quivering, semi-conscious heap somewhere with a mouth full of kimchi and mustard stained fingers, wondering, 'What the hell happened?'"

-Anthony Bourdain

34 Years and 2 Days later...

If you have happened upon this blog you are likely asking who I am and why I am writing this blog.  I was born in Austin 34 years and 2 days ago.  I have lived within an hour of Austin my entire life, and finally moved to the city a little over two years ago.  While I have not always been an Austinite, the city has been a huge part of my entire life.  For lack of a better term, Austin is my home, but the time has come for me to leave.

I have spent the last three and a half years in grad school and hopefully I will earn my second Masters degree in May of 2014 and will begin applying to doctoral programs.  I feel that this is an achievable goal.  I am applying to the University of Texas which is in Austin, and if accepted will likely attend, but I am not sure that I will be accepted, so I have elected to treat this year as my last in Austin.

While I will be leaving home, I will also be moving away from my parents, which will be equally, if not more difficult. 

In my mind this blog will serve a number of purposes.  First and foremost it gives me a chance to really take the time to say goodbye to Austin and all the things that entails.  Second this blog will chart the steps that I am taking to prepare to move somewhere else.  My wife and I will need to pack our house, sort through our storage unit, and complete the other tasks we will need to move to an unknown destination.  Finally, to some degree this blog will also chronicle the steps that I am taking in my application process, but at the same time I am afraid to jinx myself, so you will only find very, very general information here and only as it relates to my final year in Austin.

Thanks for your time, I hope you find this blog both informational and entertaining.

Preparing for what might be my last year in Austin.  More to come.