Morning Walk

From Mike-

Love that morning walk.  Today was a bit later than is my typical want.  I like it when there is still a strong feel of the night; a cool/damp residue before the sun breaks through and starts to burn.  In cities, especially, there’s a certain peace which lingers.  A meditative calm before the noise, dust, and mean side of making a living kicks in. 

And I’m totally aware of what a ridiculous luxury this is.  To be able to move my sorry butt across ten and a half time zones, then simply be a part of this world without needing to pick up a shovel or show up someplace ready for a task is to start to understand some of the basic disparities of circumstance.  Certainly it can’t be anything but circumstance.  To pretend I have this relative luxury due to some special/earned skill is folly.  I was simply born into the right hemisphere. At the right time.  And with certain advantages of skin color, social circumstance, etc.

But that’s getting beyond today’s thought.  As Rebecca said, all it takes is a whiff of smoke to bring the circumstances of a place screaming into sharp focus.  An inevitable part of any time spent in India (in this particular case) is the life being lived on the street.  Babies naked from the waist down; chickens picking at the scraps; a dented aluminum pot coming to a boil over a wood or charcoal fire.  Mom yelling to the kids.  Dad just down the way, manning the sugar cane press to squeeze it into juice to be sold for three rupees (six cents) a glass. One walks through these circumstances and can’t help but wish to share the experience (and its attendant questions) with home.  In our world, it happens with a camera.  But this isn’t a show.  It’s a whole (bunch of) life.  And to capture it on film-or even with words-is to pass a sort of judgment.  To look through a particular lense and cultural norm which just can’t apply.   Certainly the draw is the what if..?  What if I were suddenly thrust into the same circumstance?  Would I meet the day with casual ruminations on the nature of life’s disparities?  Do I do that in my typical world of gathering and work? Do I feel pity?  Seek a cure? 

I’m not really looking for an answer here.  Mostly, I’m just spouting.  Which is partially due to jet lag, and partially due to the buzz of being in a different place and time (thank-you time machine.)  And I’m also carrying around a bit of a cross, as it were.  But I’m going to need to wait for the next blog to share just what the nature of said cross is.  But it’s a good one.