Bring the Tropics Home...

I love the summer.

I love the heat and the colors and the sounds. I love going barefoot and shirtless. I love working outside and cooking outside and playing outside. Most of all, I love the smells.

The smells of summer seem to reach deep into my brain. I smell jasmine and I remember summertime, 1970. Songs come floating on the wind, from almost four decades ago. I can see the fort in the backyard and the kids from down the street.

When I smell plumeria, I'm back in the airport on Maui. I'll never forget my wife's reaction when we walked through the open-air airport and smelled the flowers - the smell is everywhere, and every time I smell it I go back.

When I smell Coppertone suntan lotion, I go back to the beach. When I smell watermelon, it's the Fourth of July again. Other seasons have their smells: There's cut-grass and wildflowers in the spring. Winter has evergreens and apple-cinnamon. Autumn is damp leaves and pumpkin pie. But, for me, none of these reach as deep as the smells of summer.

This is why I pick up plants every chance I get. My porch is full with tropical plants. Just last week I bought a miniature yellow hibiscus to go with the two pink ones sitting out there. The jasmine is blooming and I can smell it whenever I go out. I love the greens and pinks and yellows and whites. My plants bring the tropics to my porch, which is where I love to be.

Summer has sounds, also, especially music. They aren't as strong as the smells, but they are close. I hear Seals & Crofts, The Eagles, CSN and Three Dog Night. Songs from these artists take me back to when summer was freedom - out of school, too young to work...just a couple of chores and hours at the pool.

Honestly, I'm happy year-round. I have a loving family who I enjoy spending time with. I have a great job and I have interests to occupy me. We are clothed and fed and reasonably comfortable. Every season has its beauty. But if I had to choose, I'd say I'm a summer-kindof guy.

The end of a journey...

Life is all about journeys. Some of them are long and arduous, some are brief, some are focused and some are some are meandering. We've been told and told, "It's not the destination, it's the journey." There is a lot of truth to this, though there is a lot to be said for the destination as well. The destination is where we sit and look back on the trip, pick through the memories and catalog our souvenirs. The destination can mark the end of a long path. It can also mark the beginning of a new one.

But the journey is what is most memorable. It is during the journey that we grow and learn. During the journey we have many choices in which way to go, how to get where we are headed (I started to say "where we are going", but they aren't always the same thing). Often we are not afforded the chance to undo or redo parts of the journey - that's okay. It's the journey that makes us who we are.

Enough philosophizing...Today is something of a destination for me. Yesterday I completed the requirements for my Bachelor of Science degree in Software Engineering. It was quite a journey. It was almost solid - nearly every day for 2 years. I'm glad to be at the destination, but I'm especially thankful for the journey. I met some very smart people who pushed me at times, and dragged me along at others. I've come out of it with potential life-long friends. I had instructors that challenged me and others that encouraged me greatly. In the end, it was a good experience for me.

I'm thankful to my family for putting up with me - all my late nights and daily work. My stress over projects that weren't going well. My school commitments that forced them to be flexible in my family time. I couldn't have done it without all their love and support.

So now it's on to a new journey. I'm not sure where it will lead; not even sure what it will look like. But I know for certain that we'll enjoy the trip.