Riding my bike today from Nevada City back home to Chester Street on a splendid! end-of-November day, breezy, no, windy, swirling leaves & pine needles down across my cheek how good it feels to be spinning pedals again, cruising backstreets!
As I'm free-wheeling once more the recognition comes to me I'm that rare bird who abides in a culture that's projected time as an adversary, that at every turn & wherever it can seeks to reduce, compress, or streamline time not only to be more productive but has fallen in love with gadgetry for its own sake, to embrace the latest in ex-pedience, just to marvel at its new potential!
But- what if you step back from this manic obsession with crunching time & choose instead- Lord Help You- with entering time? To exit the wizardry of the mind & return to the body, to what you can do for yourself? To step out under the sky, take a deep breath, and pronounce the word "here"? To feel the sunshine on your face, to visit with a finch frolicking in the branches, to lean across the back fence & have a friendly word with your neighbor? To walk to the grocery, playfully carousing with every dog along the way? Behold! An entire universe opens from you in every direction!
I entered time yesterday at Lake Clementine. Trying out my 5th kayak rental as two youngish moms and their toddlers politely look on. "This one's a bit tippy..." said the salesman the day before. Sure enough. Swoosh! I'm in the lake--but it was shallow where I was, so only wet on my left arm and shorts. Let's try this again. Enter the boat fine this time, but drift right away toward the dock. A quick back paddle and, swoosh, I am in again. This time all the way. 10 pounds or so of soaked cotton later, I pack this too-narrow and not flat-bottomed enough 17 footer back on top of my car. This particular kayak is not for me.
ReplyDeleteMr Drew!
ReplyDeleteGosh your experience chills me just reading about it!
We should get together soon and go out and try to stay upright! (tall order).....
I was out mis-adventuring the other day, looking for Spenceville Wildlife Area and happened upon Camp Far West Reservoir- ever been? It's part of the Bear River watershed- beautiful down there this time of year-