Summer breathing is different in The Alps.
First, summer breathing is different in general. It exists deep in the cosmos. The reaction is free from the weight of gravity. Spring fades into memory at the first warm inhalation. The past is left behind.
Second, ‘The Alps’ itself is said as a breath, a sigh of relief into the sacred air. Things will be different here. A new season. Moreover, a new location. Most important, a new breath. It feels like dawn breaking into my body.
I fall outside myself to struggle and rejoice as I breathe new air.
Third, I’m caught in the headlights of foreign culture here. Language makes the air taste different. I attempt to release fumbling as a part of spring. I find my legs, even in uncertainty.
I’m thankful as the light, warm blanket of summer air slips over me. Summer breathing is a different species, ruled by separate chemical laws.
Finally, I inhale.
Deep breaths are waiting, breaths that have been waiting inside my chest for weeks and months. I exhale. At last, I feel settled. Summer has been waiting. The season has not disappeared. It sat inside me, dormant for months. Sometimes it feels dormant for years.
In the end, I savor. I exhale.
Thank you to Pascal Debrunner for the banner photo.