A Non-tourist at a Tourist Attraction

I was pleased the other day when I walked up a trail to a tourist attraction, despite disliking tourist attractions and rocky trails. Many people see aversions as a "negative" thing, something to be avoided at all costs. Rubbish.  Aversions are part of a natural cycle that "charges up" the intensity of subsequent pleasures. Without aversions and suffering, experiences are just a bland sugary routine consumer experience. They become American cheese.

Yes, the trail was rocky. So I had to reach out in some non-standard-tourist direction to escape this aversion. For awhile it felt good to throw rocks off the trail.

Then I got close enough to the waterfall to hear it. It is an interesting and unique sound. Soon we were at the creek below the waterfall, but still couldn't see it. The air was cool and moist. What higher praise can you give?

It was a microclimate there along the creek. The trees were tall and straight, unlike the usual scrawny diseased trees of Colorado. There was even some protection from the wind.

People coming back from the waterfall had wet shoes. Considering how quickly water destroys shoes, I decided not to walk close enough to see the waterfall. Just sitting here on the bench, without doing anything, I could enjoy everything that is sacred: cool moist air, greenery, shade. And listen to the waterfall, and imagine it. 

(Recall the words of the Arab king in "Lawrence of Arabia": 'the English have a great appetite for desolate places. No Arab likes the desert. There is nothing in the desert. No man needs nothing. The Arab loves water and green trees.')

My dog honored the occasion by deigning to drink from the creek. Normally she has no interest in creeks or lakes. 

 

I returned in a good mood. Something that shouldn't have worked, was made to work. UNDER-researching the hike was the first thing I did right.

But it is still surprising that the world hasn't yet discovered that scenery-tourism has an obsolete "business model"; more obsolete than the post office, the public library, brick-and-mortar bookstores or travel agencies, or photocopy machines. Maybe that is one good thing that could come from the virus lockdown and travel restrictions.