reverb10.3

I’m participating in reverb10. For more information on what it is and how to get involved, click here.

Today’s Prompt: Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors).

It probably comes as no surprise that I feel most alive when I travel.  This moment is born out of my travel bug.  At almost the last minute, I decided to accompany my husband on a business trip to New Orleans.  He was in a conference all day, so I was left to explore a new city by myself.  It reminded me of the time I backpacked Europe by myself… new sights, new smells, new foods, new experiences. I got to relish them and sit in that moment for as long as I wanted.

One particular moment came from the square in the photo.  It was a warm March day, in the upper 60s, and the sun was bright.  I had just discovered the most authentic gelato I’d had since living in Italy and I sat down on a quiet bench to enjoy it.  I didn’t distract myself with my iPod or with Twitter. I just sat.  I remember a bird in a tree next to me fluttering about and singing to me.  It smelled like spring.  We hadn’t smelled spring in Chicago yet.  People were mulling about with strollers, friends, artists… I could hear jazz music in the distance and watched horse-drawn carriages clip-clop by.

It was perfect. And I felt at peace for the first time in a long time.