Skip to main content

They're paving my paradise

 Today is my day off, so I went for a walk. Which is what I do any day I have an hour free and it's not either 900 degrees out or blowing at tornado velocity or below zero.

I am fortunate to live in an area close to some open space. The space is roughly the shape of a big balloon, and its perimeter measures around 3 miles, which is a perfect distance for me. For the 27 years I've been walking this beautiful open space, I've appreciated myriad birds, coyotes, lizards, silly dogs, ever-changing foliage colors, all with the backdrop of the giant Sandias. 

These beautiful, simple pleasures of nature I've taken for granted. This morning I was reminded that taking anything for granted is a really bad idea.


At the bottom end of the balloon of desert, I saw this. And many large trucks. And a portapotty. They were leveling and creating a big space into which who knows what will go.

My heart clogged up with sadness. I had seen survey stakes over the last months, but hadn't really worried about them because...denial, denial is a great place to hang out.

So I backtracked, not being able to move forward through what used to be open space with a nice path grooved into it. And I started processing the fact that one of my simplest, most revered activities, going for a peaceful goddamned walk through the desert has been sullied by progress.

Now I need to adjust, and to figure out a new path that incorporates as much of the desert as possible but avoids the construction.

Progress is inevitable, but I really don't have to like it.

Have a great day, and a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,
Stevie


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It might have been the moon

 The second Super Moon, also a Harvest Moon, just happened. On the same night I had my mini-meltdown. (see prior post). I've talked with several friends who reported intense emotions, mostly around stuff that needs to be released, resolved. When I think about my angst, and how intense it felt, I realize it was all about that kind of stuff. Old stuff, patterns, thinking, habits. So maybe the moon precipitated things. The bubbling up of angst and anger and icky stuff lasted all that night, but had calmed by yesterday morning. Thank gawd, because that was a morass of darkness, the likes of which I haven't experienced in at least a decade. The rest of the weekend has been pleasant. Uneventful. Full of errands, chores, a really nice walk this morning, yummy food, naps, etc. The one thing about energy that feels constant is that no mood lasts forever. Energy continually shifts and morphs, like the Universe knows too much, too long, of any one sentiment just isn't a good idea for ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The choices we make, make us who we are, don't they?

W. H. Auden once said: Choice of attention—to pay attention to this and ignore that—is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day that we often forget that every single choice that we make, particularly when it comes to how we live, not just the little niggling details, really matters. Every single one. I guess it boils down to limited resources, right? There are a finite number of moments in each day, and most of us are obligated to spend a considerable number of those pursuing our careers, making ends meet, etc., which means that the number available for spiritual and emotional nurturing are limited, indeed. So demonstrating our love for our families, taking good care of ourselves-nutritionally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, in the moments we actually have for those pursuits? Makes absolute sense. And growing our hearts and enriching our spirits through whatever means we choose, be it spending more ...
Post a Comment
Read more

On Mondays. And lots of rules.

Mondays can be a challenge. There's the whole shock to the system of waking up and realizing it's not the weekend anymore, which kind of blows. And then the jolt out of the lazy flow of the weekend into the time-focused 'gotta be at the office by x time, gotta get ready for the company meeting, gotta check emails/deadlines to ensure nothing is on fire' stuff. And then the reality of settling into the week...and knowing that this one will be a full one. They all seem to be. This week for me: Work. Lots of good stuff going on, but 'lots' being the watchword. School. 2nd trimester starts. Tomorrow a.m. So tomorrow for me is school, 9-12; work 1230-430; clinic 5-9. Long day, Tuesday. For this I've washed and pressed my lab coat, cleaned out my tote (it is truly amazing what collects during a trimester in terms of used kleenexes, abandoned index cards, folded notes that were important at some point but now are just extra weight, stale snacks, etc.), and ...
Post a Comment
Read more