It surrounds me. It’s in the air and each breath I take makes me want to hurry toward the next. The air has a cleanliness to it that reminds me of diving face first into a bed with fresh laundered sheets. Ones that were hung on a clothesline for the sun to dry. 

Perhaps that’s it. The sun! It seems the desert sun has cleansed both the surface and the air. Maybe it’s the absence of humans. . . or any mammals for that matter. 

Sitting outside watching the moon set and dawn begin while sipping my coffee and breathing this sweet desert air was especially pleasant this morning.