I pondered a long time whether I should make a posting with this photograph. Did I make the right choice?
A week ago I quoted Thoreau who wrote that one should walk at least four hours daily. I sometimes think what I would do if I got rich enough (an unlikely scenario, and I have never even played the lottery, and of course even then getting rich would be very, very unlikely) so that I could freely choose what to do with my time from here to any foreseeable future.
Walking four hours each day in forests and swamps would be rather attractive. Also, reading books, another four hours or so daily. And then? Of course, there are the children, that would provide things to do each day for the next 10 years or so. And what other things? Maybe I would go to a museum or a gallery or a concert, maybe even opera (if I would get bored enough) to meet people.
Would that be a good enough content for a life? I don't know. I must admit that the work I'm doing provides a nice amount of challenge, and my colleagues are a pleasure to work with. I think I would start missing this part of life rather soon.
But then there is the fact that I really would like to do a lot more walking out in nature if that would be possible.
(Posting title is from the poem Nature, That Washed Her Hands in Milk by Sir Walter Ralegh.)
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2 comments:
Juha, I think you did make the right choice. Your image pretty much sums up the time of year, not quite winter, not quite spring, dull and dreary, but with the promise of better things to come in that sky.
An admirable goal, your wish to walk four hours a day. I had the good fortune to be able to do just that for 17 months just over ten years ago. I wasn't rich; it's just that circumstances came together to allow me the luxury of living a back-to-nature lifestyle. One of the very best and most enjoyable times of my life. And Thoreau had a lot to do with my choice of lifestyle as well. I truly hope you have the opportunity to fulfill your ream one day.
And now for a shameless promotion of my book blog at www.afwacrsofsnw.blogspot.ca which chronicles my time in the bush.
Bill, thanks!
Your book blog is rather fine. I enjoyed the posting about making bread - something my youngest daughter suggested we should do during the weekend. It is some time since I did something like that.
One of the big things of changing life is what things one would be willing to be without. Electricity, indoor plumbing, newspapers, tv, internet, shops nearby, access to a public library, ...
Watching tv is something I already have minimized to a dozen hours per year. But I sometimes succumb when traveling to watching tv in the hotel room when there is no good book to read and I'm too tired to go for a walk. And some years ago I didn't subscribe to a newspaper either, reading books instead. Less worry about the world situation, and no advertisements either.
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