How green everything is outside! Walking to work last week down the leafy lane that is now my 1.6 mile commute, I was struck by just how lush the vegetation is at this time of year. It seems to crowd in on the road from the hedges either side, insisting that you feel its presence and acknowledge your own existence as a part of nature. It is all just so green! And so full of vibrant energy. It's hard not to feel included and uplifted by Nature's enthusiasm at this time of year. Oh, there are flowers too, campions and buttercups and poppies in bloom, all very pretty and occasionally gaudy. But it is the foliage that impresses most upon my consciousness. It fills the world suddenly and like a welcome exuberant visitor entering your hallway, exerts its presence in your life and the places in which you live it.
I quite like being able to walk to work. Oh,. I miss my ten-mile-each-way commute by bicycle, partly because of the cake it allows me to consume with metabolic impunity. But also, I was fortunate for so many years to have a route which many would have gladly ridden for leisure. I miss that immensely and intensely. I shall have to get my fill of two-wheel happiness by more deliberate journeys.
And walking feels so slow. You cover such little ground with every stride. That said, it does therefore give you more occasion for reflection: A tiny cat with beautiful grey ocelot markings popping out of a garden to greet me, a buzzard soaring on a thermal as the morning sun heats some patch of tarmac and causes a column of hot air to rise to dizzying heights, the contained and wobbling muscularity of a lady cyclists bottom in grey lycra as she freewheels down the bumpy lane. Yes, certainly the senses appear keener to engage with the world and our instincts more responsive to what they encounter.
Oh, I have clouds on my mental horizon certainly. These are strange times and I miss my beautiful garden with its granny-bonnets and whispering black bamboo. But life goes on and no greater reminder of that could there be than the fecundity of verdant nature as Midsummer approaches.
So, with my metaphorical tail held high, though my metaphysical ears only half-mast turned down, I trot happily towards whatever destiny this day holds for me. Perhaps somewhere on my route, I will meet a fellow traveler coming in the other direction but whose eyes and demeanour reveal to me that even from the opposite perspective, they too can see how glorious, despite the setbacks of fate and fortune, existence truly is.
3 comments:
You have hit upon exactly why I like walking rather than biking...how can you see all the wildflowers if you are whizzing by on those two wheels?
I was excited to recognize poppies the first time I saw them from a distance growing on the Downs in Eastbourne, I only knew them from photos.
Enjoy your walk and take some photos why don't you?
It is truly a wonderful time of the year, and the green has a fresh- and lushness it has only now, in early summer. I love the long hours of daylight and wish I could just stay outside for as long as I like, without having to get up the next morning and be at work at a certain hour.
Like Kay, I know why I prefer walking to cycling. Yes, it takes a lot longer, but the reward is in seeing, hearing and smelling so much more along the way.
I like both, walking and cycling. Sadly, cycling ended for me when I no longer went to Germany on holiday. Cycling brought me great happiness.
I read your previous post and I am at a loss as to what to say. I understood so little of it. You hint at monumental changes in your life which cause you to philosophise about the human condition. Yes, I am with you so far but that’s as far as my totally practical nature allows me to go. Whatever changes they are, I hope they bring you the satisfaction and contentment you search for.
I love this time of year, the many shades of green shimmer all around me and I feel like there is a green ocean carrying me to a green shore. Although I enjoy colourful flowers nothing gives as much pleasure as a burst of fresh new green..
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