Water

(Monday 2nd July 2012 – Evening)
Why do people like things? Why do I like the things I like?

I’m sitting looking out of the window across a beach. The sand is covered by very shallow water, which reflects the grey of the sky. Because it is more sand than water, the water on the beach is completely still. Further out I can see the boundary where the beach ends and the sea begins. There the light grey of the beach becomes a darker blue-grey. The whole scene seems to be composed of shades of grey: pewter, dove-grey, battleship-grey, blue…

I like being near water. I like lakes and rivers and I especially like being near the sea. I find the being near water relaxing. I like the colours people associate with water. Right now, I’m on vacation and I’m concentrating on doing very little. I’m simply relaxing, going with the flow, drifting (two water related metaphors there). It’s very pleasant.

(a little later)
The scene has changed. I’m sitting in the same chair. The beach has dried a little and the scene now contains more brown shades. The sea is now a deep, blue-grey and the sky above dull grey. Close to the boundary between the sand and the sea I can see two tiny figures. With the aid of binoculars I can just make out that they have fishing rods.

I just thought: I wonder what the phase of the moon is? I wonder because, the sea is an awful long way out. Obviously it’s low tide, but is it a Spring low? I think it must be, that would make the phase of the moon either New, or Full. If I think, and the sky is clear enough, I’ll look up in the sky tonight.

Someone is almost bound to suggest looking it up on the internet. Unfortunately, the internet connection isn’t working properly at the moment, so this is being written on Monday evening, but may not be posted until some time in the future.

(later still)
At the boundary between the sea and the beach I can see a flock of white sea-birds on the ground. They are moving around and from time to time some of them fly into the air and then land again. It gives that area a sparkling effect.

At last the rain has stopped

At long last the rain has stopped. It’s Sunday afternoon, I’ve had lunch, though not done the washing-up, and mowed the lawn. We’re ready for the summer now.

One minor irritation occurred while I was mowing the lawn. The oil filler cap on the lawnmower engine came loose and spilled oil on the outside of the engine. It was a bit messy, but no harm has been done. I checked the oil level and it is still above the minimum. I was planning to change the oil anyway, so now I have a further reason to do it.

Even thought it hasn’t rained all day, the atmosphere still feels humid. I hope that doesn’t mean that it is going to rain again, because I would like to walk down to the pub this evening. Talking of the pub, I’ve just been down to town in the car to fill up with diesel and get a new can of petrol for the lawnmower. I should have bought a bottle of oil at the same time but I forgot. There’s no urgent need to change the oil, but it would be good to get it out of the way.

On the way down to town I say Benjy my neighbour walking, so I stopped to give him a lift. That’s another reason for hoping it doesn’t rain, he didn’t have a coat.

A thought: Don’t hoard negative emotions

Have you ever thought of your mind as being like the boot of your car?

You must have been told from time to time to clear out the boot of your car, because the weight you carry around in there costs you money in fuel that you burn to no purpose. I don’t mean the weight of the atlas, or the car-jack, or the spare tyre (which after all, you might need), but: the half of a pair of trainers, the discarded wrapping, the stuff you were taking to the dump but got distracted by something else.

Now think about your mind. What are you carrying around that you don’t need? Not factual memory: that doesn’t weight much, no more that a note in the atlas “I was in ‘Somewhere-or-another’ in June 2012”; or the positive memories, which are more like fuel than dead-weight; but the negative emotions.

Even if you feel you are fully in control of yourself, wouldn’t it be more “fuel efficient” to leave some of the junk behind?