quin·tes·sence (kwĭn-tĕsəns) N.

1. The pure, highly concentrated essence of a thing.
2. The purest or most typical instance: the quintessence of evil.
3. In ancient and medieval philosophy, the fifth and highest essence after the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water, thought to be the substance of the heavenly bodies and latent in all things.

I was watching last Thursday's episode of ER and the title was "The Quintessence of Dust" and I just loved it. :) So I am using it in my title.

Tonight I walked to the postbox to get my mail. I love taking this walk--- which shows you just how far I have come since the surgery. Sure, I have lost 54lbs, but I have gained a quiescence that is rooted deep in me now. I never took the leisurely walk before because I had TOO MUCH TO DO! I was TOO BUSY. But now, the walk is something like a restorative for my psyche. It calms me and brings me inner peace. I can cuddle my inner child and all of that bs. :) All spirtual psych stuff aside, it's been wonderful for me.

Tonight was no different, except that it was. As Megan and I rounded a corner we came across the young lady who walks our dog (she's 11 or 12 I think) and Megan begged to go with her. I said yes and off they went. I was left to do something I have never done alone... finish the walk.

As I walked alone I noticed all the kids playing, the way the shadows lengthened as the sun slipped beyond the horizon, and the smells of the neighborhood. I was trasnported back to my childhood when the moment the streetlights came on was the MOMENT I had to be home and inside, OR ELSE. I remembered stopping the production of mudpies in my friend's yard because it was time for Punky Brewster and how in the evenings of the whole week I was at Outdoor Science School (camp during the school year) all me and my bunkmates could talk about was how we were missing ALF.

The smells of the neighborhood washed over me and although it's just the 11th of February it felt and smelled like summer. There was the clean smell of cut, wet grass mingling with the smell of dirt from the playground; someone was doing laundry and the enticing smell of downy frolicked on the breeze. But the most intoxicating scent that hung in the air, bold and seductive was the charcoal and beef smell of a barbecue. It wafted in the air flirting with my senses coyly, tempting my sense of smell and making my belly rumble.

It was very nice. The package from my SP7 waiting in my mailbox wasn't bad either.

Thank you sp7! I will post pics later. But for now, the olympics beckon