usadeepsouth.com
You Fill Up My Senses
by Beth Boswell Jacks
Is that a gentle breeze wafting through this room -- or could it be my own wistful sigh?
The latter, yes. I've just returned to my writing after watching (for the hundredth time) son Tom's wedding video. Tom, the youngest of our four children, married in Colorado, and the video of this beautiful summertime wedding is a real keepsake.
As I sit here, John Denver's "Annie's Song" is still tip-toeing through my brain and wrecked emotions, and when I shut my eyes I still envision the Rockies -- a dizzying experience always for this flatlander girl.
I've "done" the Rocky Mountains now for twenty years, and I never make the drive through or flight over without being awestruck anew. I've never quite figured why God gave them such grandeur and gave us clay hills and dirt levees. Something's not quite fair about that.
And the heat. May I gripe? Here in Mississippi our temperature hovers around one hundred degrees in July and August -- only bearable because we love this place.
Yes, I do love my homestate dearly, but I think I could get used to the gentle touch of the Rocky Mountains' balmy winds and easy sunshine -- especially during the summer.
Nobody will disagree that our temperature here in the Magnolia State has been absolutely awful lately. I tried to work in my day lilies today and almost died, perspiring as no lady properly should.
All right, I thought, I'll use my mind and my senses to transcend/transfer/move beyond this Mississippi humidity.
The scent of jasmine and honeysuckle was faint in the air, and my knees felt cool as they pressed against the smooth pebbles of the garden path.
I closed my eyes and began to hum "Annie's Song."
"You fill up my senses/ Like a night in the forest/ Like the mountains in springtime/ Like a walk in the rain/ Like a storm in the desert/ Like a sleepy blue ocean/ You fill up my senses/ Come fill me again . . ."
I began to think back to Tom's wedding. I began to picture his laughing face as we rafted on the Colorado River and hiked and ate and sang and danced. I thought of his standing with his arms around his wonderful Katie, so full of love he was about to burst. I thought of the precious little home they share -- too far now from Mom and Dad --and I remember thinking, Gosh, I used to be his best girl.
"You fill up my senses --"
It's just so blasted hot. My eyes are absolutely swimming. What? Tears? No, no, I tell you, it's perspiration, that's all.
Excuse me a sec, okay?
Beth Jacks, editor of USADEEPSOUTH.COM, is the author of 3 books and a weekly columnist for a number of deep south newspapers. Contact Beth at bethjacks@hotmail.com.
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Read about Beth's SNIPPETS books -- two collections of her columns.
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