The Flora

The smell of jasmine lifting the night air.

Large spikes of petals falling to the ground -- realizing that the white spikes are from the giant banana trees surrounding the house. Laughing because banana trees do have flowers and they're not just something you found in a can stocked at a Thai grocery store.

Orange trees, avenues of swaying palms -- if you're new to these things, it's as if you're experiencing a fresh awakening of the senses, as if a part of you had only lived in words and pictures and you've suddenly become whole again. That the world has become real.