We spend a lot of time thinking about stuff, but sometimes I don’t want to.
The other day I was taking a slow amble, calm down I was in my car not on foot, across the Fens. It was a tiny road, bordering on a track, bordering on a bridleway. Anyway, I remembered driving down this very road some 30 years before; it was equally as narrow then, but there were two things I did notice.
(1) The road surface was certainly rougher. It was sunken on one side, which being as I was in the Fenland wasn't entirely surprising, and had its fair share of potholes.
(2) It had grass growing in the middle of the road.
Now, as I remember driving down this road, at some speed it has to be said, I didn't remember the green smudge down the centre of the road. I do remember the green smudge of the hedges each side of the road, as I whizzed by them.
It obviously got me thinking; which I'm sure you guessed it would. In true overthinking fashion, I checked a map from 1700, of the Fenland in question. Which by the way, you can get from the wonderful Old Maps Online website. It showed a track that follows the same route of the road, which is kind of cool. Anyway, whilst I'm sure it was then more of a track than a road, I do expect it was well-worn.
Back in the early late 80s/early 90s, it had obviously got upgraded to a winding strip of tarmac, but it still had an appropriate amount of traffic. The grass before me, suggested that had changed.
Now, I'm certainly not an expert on how long it takes to grow grass in the middle of a road, but I'm guessing it is slightly longer than a rain shower and a couple of weeks.
As I continued to car-amble, I wondered what had changed, which then got derailed by a new thought; how much better the road looked.
Previously, it was just a small road. Now it was a road with some wildlife embedded into it; much more interesting. As I drove around the bend, I found myself being careful about not driving over the grass in the middle.
Time had moved the tarmac blandness, into an organically rich environment. It was delightful.
It got me thinking, again. What other stuff in our lives have space between them.
As I was over-ponding this very thought, I glanced out at the patio outside. Again, there was a glorious array of green stuff growing between each slab. Our instinct is to clear that all away, to jet wash the patio clean. Sure, that would look newer, but would it be better?
Another couple of examples, less physical in nature.
There is a moment, just before you fall asleep, that is calm and warm and, dare I say, fluffy. Just as you pass from the conscious into the land-of-nod. You also get the wonderful feeling as you wake up, when there isn't an alarm clock shouting at you, of being in an almost-dream-state.
Both those have a certain mystic to them. They feel a little other-worldly. Well to me they do.
My point? Well my point is that I often spend far too much time thinking and worrying, about stuff. There is a need to identify the stuff, to polish the stuff, to think and decided about the stuff, to do something positive and pro-active about the stuff.
I’m starting to think, that I should be spending more time thinking and enjoying those magical things between the stuff.
Random Visual
There are all kinds of textures around. I like to take a moment here and there, to look at them.
Music Requirement
Kraftwerk - (first techno), 1970. Now, this one is a bit more of a challenge. Having only just been formed earlier that year in 1970, this is taken from the "carussel of the youth" concert. It’s the oldest known live recording of Kraftwerk. It is super interesting watching this new form of music being performed to an audience who had never heard anything like it before. You are witnessing the birth of something entirely new; techno. Some of them get it, some of them don’t. Also note, that it is being performed Live, not with a machine looping sounds.
Footnotes
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