Beautiful synergy

The star jasmine is blooming all over here now, as it was when we moved here. You walk outside, and even in the midst of sidewalks and asphalt and traffic, a million people bustling about their too-busy lives, this heady cloud of fragrance is there. It invites you to breathe it in, to let it be a beautiful part of you, to experience this moment with it inside your lungs.

It's magical, that flower. That fragrance.

Lilies are my first love, the gorgeous colors, the flowers rising majestically on stems that can tower over your head. I love trumpets, orientals, and orienpets that will knock you over from across a lawn with their heady scent.

I'm learning, though, to love the jasmine even more. The unassuming, yet lovely flowers all work together to emit this intoxicating aroma, this scent of summer, this reminder to slow the hell down and experience your life.

"Kiss me here, by the jasmine," I ask my husband as we get out of the car at the farmer's market. A low groundcover of jasmine in furious bloom is covering the parking lot island next to our car. He does, his soft lips lowering to my uplifted face, a tender lover's caress in front of anyone who cares to see it. His lips dance with mine, briefly, and as I breathe in the impossibly lovely fragrance of the jasmine, it becomes a third participant in our interlude. It makes this kiss one I will remember for a long, long time.