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Healthy-mindedness in Autumn

 It cannot be repeated too often that the greatest thing about rain is how it makes you feel after the sun comes out and the mud starts to dry. Of course this is only true on one level: I don't mean to suggest that an individual's subjective feelings are more important than the survival of every living thing in the world because of the rain.

Somewhat analogous to that wonderful after-rain feeling is what happens in autumn. I took my dog out for a walk today, where we got a great view of cliffs and mountains in two directions. More importantly, the air was so pure, cool, and crystalline. Unbelievable. No smoke. And walking didn't make me warm, as it usually does.

I walked around like a joyful idiot, soaking up the sunlight and feeling totally at peace with the world around me. Summer is almost worth it if it helps you feel like this.


We went up to the mesa in the loaner car from the dealership. It is a passenger sedan. I haven't been in one of those things for years. It is torture just crawling in, primarily because of the swoopey front pillar. The ground clearance is so low you feel like your butt is going to scrape the road on every small dip. After being parked in the sun, the inside of a passenger car must heat up 15 F more than a cargo van. 

So the cool air of autumn was merciful, again; that is, I could relax and stop worrying about my dog in there.

Colonel Nicholson being tortured in a sheet metal prison in the tropics. (from Imdb.com)



Comments

Ed said…
Did I ever tell you that I went to see The Bridge on the River Kwai. Not the movie, the bridge over the river and the cemetery on the right bank of the river.

It looks nothing like what the bridge in the movie. https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/river-kwai-bridge-in-kanchanaburi-thailand-picture-id522001288
Ed, I believe the movie was shot in Ceylon, not in southeast Asia, so it should look different than the movie.

Did you ride your touring bicycle over the real bridge?
Ed said…
I didn't have a bicycle with me at that time. This was in 1968 when I went to Thailand on R & R.
The real bridge is railroad only so riding a bicycle across it would be doable but not very comfortable.