April Observations

April. The return of warm South Florida nights. Open the door into the damp, comfortable embrace of subtropical evening.

I just finished The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. The novel's ending words spiraled upward into a sudden exultation that swelled in my chest. (Literary orgasm? I wondered. I was sitting in the empty school hallway, loathe to leave until I'd finished those last couple of pages, and glad that I did.)

On the way home, the world was suddenly much more real and much more broad. Burning ember, tiny explosion of cigarette butt hitting the pavement, flung from the car in front of me. The smell of someone's house or car, pleasant and sweet, wafting in through my open window.

I love to finish books. I love that moment of completion. Suddenly, I am popped back out into my world, the real world, and for a few minutes, at least, it suddenly just...makes sense. For a moment, I have a context with which to see it all, broad and narrow all at once. I am alive to details.

Single pink hibiscus flower against the nondescript condominium wall, blossoming upward, stigma licking the air, all alone amongst the dark green leaves. Brave and beautiful.