Fresh, country air

There is nothing like a visit home to remind you how good clean air really is. There's a point on my drive home where the air smells familiar, the city smog gone, and farm smells....admittedly not all pleasant....creep in.
The weather this weekend was brilliant and unlike most raining April days, was ideal for getting a few things done around my parents' property. After stupidly forgetting to turn off my alarm and getting up at 6 a.m., I decided to get on the road and avoid the holiday traffic north. With the 410 now complete and shaving a good 20 minutes off the commute I was home around 10:30. 10 minutes from that time, I was put to task of course by my Pops who'd just finished clearing out the mess the beavers had kindly left in the culvert out the back (goodness, those beavers really can flood a place quickly).
There's nothing like picking stones, clearing brush, and stacking wood to remind oneself about how good it is to get out and do something physical every once in a while (and the gym just doesn't compare). Not that I want to live out in the country in the near future, but when the only space you can call your own is an ancient apartment with peeling paint, getting outside and fixing up things around the place is quite rewarding. Then again, it could just be the extra oxygen getting to the brain that makes it all right.