Thursday, October 23, 2014

Taking a Pulse

I was in the "city" a few days ago.  I was actually in an outside town of the city, but the power and the pressure of the city are so great that it leaks over into the air and smells and sounds and activities.  You have heard about the pulse of a city?  It is exactly that.  Like a heart rhythmically racing in a march to the end of the day.  I had forgotten this undercurrent.  There was a meeting...a series of meetings... and thus the day began early in the first muggy light with the heaviness of gray endless rain, the irregular pumping of brake lights, the tick, tick, tick of a turn signal at the intersection, the spray as cars fled by.  I had forgotten it all, but it was just like riding a bicycle.  It comes back with a somber vengeance.  Mothers rushing children under umbrellas, men avoiding puddles in shiny shoes, well dressed women never looking down, young men with an aimless morning to fill as they hung out at the local coffee shop.

I must admit that it was not all dismay.  There was the excitement of an energy I had forgotten.  The throbbing of a pulse that told you there was life, the stimulus of people with places to be and things to do, things that might even affect your life.

I had returned to an area I lived in about a decade ago and the changes were amazing in places and the lack of change was both dismaying and reassuring in other places.  There is lots of creativity in cities.  Creativity in products and in ideas.  People with hope meet in cities.  People planning big jobs live in cities.  I had been living in the edies of the world and thus had to make sure my paddle was well into the water as the currents shoved me here and there.

But at the end of the day I was glad to return to my woods, to my place of restorative pauses, slow thought and more realistic hope. I guess mankind needs both, and a balance of both places is best.

14 comments:

  1. If I had the money I would love to live in NYC for maybe a year...then I think I would have enough and want out.

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  2. I don't miss the traffic in the city but I do miss the things going on there. Lots to see and do and with people I care about, still I come back to my little remote town.

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  3. Very well-written reflection. Many young people thrive on city life, but many of us weary of it to move out of that pulse. It is definitely a place to be if you want to be in the moment!

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  4. They can keep their pulse. I love the pulse of the country life. The fellow in your picture appears to be taking the pulse of the woods with his hand on that tree.

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  5. I've lived in big cities and they certainly have their appeal, but these days I prefer to live on the outskirts of all that energy so I can take it is smaller doses.

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  6. Some of my children and grand children love N.Y.
    Years ago
    big city life
    and now
    this one
    needs what this
    edge of the woods life
    gives her.

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  7. I feel that pulse beat every time I am in Portland. It's been awhile since I've gone up there as it's 85 miles or so. I used to go more often before Kindles let me not need Powell fixes as often :). I have often thought there are two ways to live for me-- one is right downtown and the other way out. I could definitely enjoy a studio apartment in Portland's Pearl district which has all kinds of funky shops, galleries, restaurants, and of course, Powells :)

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  8. I like a certain level of stimulation, which I find both in Hilo, Hawaii and in Seattle.
    I love that photo and your text, which are both outstanding today.

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  9. Hmmmm....sounds like a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there!

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  10. What a wonderful, full of life entry. :)

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  11. oh yes, cities can be vital. they can also be suffocating. having lived my entire life up until a few years ago, in the big city, there is not much allure for me there now. I like my small country town for the rest of my sojourn on this planet.

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  12. It's funny. I can't really decide if I am a country person or a city person. I love both so much. I need both. I don't think I could live happily with just one. I guess I'm living in the perfect location then. :)
    Lovely post!

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  13. I like the city but in small doses now. I just don't like getting/driving there.

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  14. Just got back from a city trip. I always love going to cities. I love their vitality, the diversity of people, the food. But I can't wait to get home afterwards.

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