A dear friend, Due, took me to dinner tonight for my birthday. We had a lovely meal at Valley Green Inn, and as I was driving slowly (well, at the speed limit) down Lincoln Drive in Wissahickon Park, with the Sonata in D by Albeniz playing, and the window down and sounds of nature engulfing me like the darkness of the woods, a series of thoughts occurred to me.
Damn. Philadelphia is a a beautiful city with wonderful resources. The great sadness is that not all my fellow Philadelphians have access to them, or know enough about them to appreciate them. Now, some might take this the negative way, and think about people who litter and such, and yes, absolutely a key component of appreciating them, but I am looking in the positive way. Not enough of my fellow Philadelphians know and appreciate just how healing and peace-inducing it can be to be in nature, and breathe in the green and listen to the cacophonous symphony of nature.
As cars raced by me on Lincoln Drive, I tsk-tsked them for driving too fast, but also wondered where they were going so quickly, that they'd miss out on the chain of beautiful
instantaneous moments that I was experiencing as I gently rolled down the drive.
We should all make it our mission to share these pieces of beauty we know with those who do not know them, because that is how we spread greater peace, and also the appreciation. There are large numbers of people in my city who, likely, feel that these parks do not "belong" to them, which can account for the littering, but it is also a problem, because these beautiful spaces have been set aside for each and every one of them, and if all felt welcome, all would feel more invested, which would help keep these spaces more beautiful, clean and inviting.
Oh yeah, and let's face it. This isn't just Philadelphia. This is Pennsylvania, the United States, the World.
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