online: 2 march 2007
modified: 21, 22 march 2007

21 march 2007 my outdoor self


18:38 ...dusk at Parliament Hill... i walked here in nearly still air after days of strong cold winds from the northeast... an unpleasant direction for people... ...the city is lit up and looks empty... no signs of movement, except for a few aeroplanes... but now i see the electric train - the one that i used to travel here by... and a man rides by on a bicycle with flashing headlamp... ...a slight wind from the east has resumed... the Son of the Winds is packing up his several kites and windsock... (he's turned this hill into a little flying school)... he waves goodbye and i return now towards the indoors...

18:50 ...sitting by the still water of the second pond... it's sheltered here from the cold wind that was blowing gently at the hilltop... the water surface is slightly disturbed by one or two ducks... and now i hear the honking of a goose (so wild, so ancient, a sound)... the tree before me is in leaf... i can see new leaves silhouetted against the pinkish sky, lit by sodium streetlamps along the lakeside and beyond...

...as i cross the dam between ponds two and three i pass 2 swans, and 2 geese as 2 crows fly northward overhead... and now the geese continue honking and disturb the water as 2 dogs on leads disturb them... one of the dogs resembles a fox...

...i realise that i'm gradually recovering my accustomed outdoor self after several days indoors... and that is as fundamental and good an experience as any!





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