Air That Is Fresh

I love fresh air.

To me, there is nothing more invigorating or intoxicating than taking that first hit of fresh air the second that I step outside.

However, the level of freshness that one experiences, depends on one key factor.

Location.

Being in the proper location allows you to fully maximize the health and spiritual beliefs of inhaling fresh air.

I'm pretty sure that at this early point in the post, you're asking yourself, "What in the world are you talking about? Fresh air is fresh air and location don't mean diddly."

Au contraire mon ami. Location is everything. I'll give you examples, from worst to best, of what I consider to be the four main locations in which we get our junkie fix of fresh air.

1} Bad section of the city: Over the past two decades, I have worked in three different section of the capitol. The sector I'm going to focus on is what I consider to be the worst place to experience fresh air, only because from time to time, a special bonus is involved to make it extra putrid.

The extreme southern en of the city contains the state's trash-to-energy/compact plants and thus when you step outside in the morning (or afternoon or evening) the fetid scent of rancid chocolate tortures your olfactory and leaves you chewing it back throughout the day. Throw in a wind shift from the local landfill and the city more than lives up to its reputation as "a shitty cesspool".

2} Good section of the city: The section I'm now going to talk about is the one that contains my office building. When I step outside for my morning or afternoon break, I experience what the locals call "a wind tunnel". Because of the lay of the landscape, the wind picks up speed when it blows across the parking lot. Brutal in the winter and pleasant in the summer, the breeze does cleanse the area of all the surrounding yucky shit and allows you the small pleasure of sampling the neighborhood restaurants aromatically.

3} The country: Since I don't live in the country, it becomes number two on my short list of essential locals to get your junkie fix of fresh air. Sadly, because I don't live in the country, I don't think I can give a description that would do the experience of getting that fix justice.

But if I would hazard a guess, I would have to say that the experience of living and breathing the clean crisp air is simply incomparable to anything else.

4} Suburbia: Is my number one choice for getting that junkie fix of fresh air. The cool breeze wafting down from the mountain, flavored with a multitude of floral and fauna scents and seasoned with an intoxicating symphony of birds calling out in joyful exhilaration, just does something for me and to me.

And lest you think I live in a typical suburban neighborhood with tons of traffic and the other assorted irritants associated with a typical suburban neighborhood, I don't.

I live in a neighborhood that could be described as an open ended cul-de-sac, in that while the neighborhood is considered upper end middle class, the surrounding area is decidedly dead ended. The main road that runs by the mountain dead ends, thus making it perfect for pedestrians and bicycle traffic. And noise whatsoever from the surrounding streets.

So really, you can call my neighborhood, a slice of country smack dab in the middle of suburbia.

So there you have it, my personal short list of the top three locales that one can get their junkie fix of fresh air, and one locale that you can get a "hot" fix of fresh air.

How 'bout you? Do you haven any places that one can get their junkie fix of fresh air?