Long Walks On Leafy Streets

1/2/2014 Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC
This morning dawned very gray. It has been like that all day. The snowstorms from the Midwest are supposed to move in this afternoon. Tomorrow we will probably wake up to an inch of snow on the ground. It will be a welcome sight, and also provide me a good workout opportunity because the sidewalks will need to be shoveled. Apparently it has been extremely cold in the Midwest.
Last night we were watching a documentary about Montana on the Smithsonian Channel. The beauty of the landscape is simply stunning. But even the rugged, cold mountains and valleys of Montana are not exempt from the ravages of climate change. Apparently many of the glaciers of Glacier National Park have melted and very soon there may be none left. The melting of the glaciers in turn means that the rivers, streams and lakes will dry out, resulting in the change of the vegetation as well. Such are the widespread and varied effects of climate change.
Even more reason for all of us to work harder to slow it down.
I am back at home now, after shuttling between here and my sister Jayashree’s place. Both my sisters have returned from their vacation outings. I did enjoy the time I spent there with my parents. Last Friday I took them to see the Potomac River where the Seneca Creek joins it. It is not far from Jayashree’s place. We drove to a parking lot by the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) canal towpath and then walked on the towpath. The river is very wide here and the view on this clear sunny day was just absolutely beautiful. They enjoyed it very much. This location is also important in civil war history, because it is where the confederate troops crossed over to Maryland in one of their attacks on the North. An aqueduct carries the canal over the creek at this point. Both the canal and the aqueduct are not in use and are in disrepair, but that only adds to the charm of the C&O canal national park.
On Monday night we drove to the Seneca Creek State Park to see the winter lights. The state of Maryland and the city of Gaithersburg have done a great job with the decorations. A large section of the park has been devoted to the lights. It took us about 45 minutes to drive through the four or five miles of exhibits. They had lights in the shape of animals and various holiday scenes. I must say I got bored after a little while, but I am happy they are attracting people to the park. Hopefully many will come back to enjoy the trails of the park and spend time with nature. I have led a few hikes in that park.
As I get older I find that I don’t enjoy life in the same way. It is quite natural because you have seen many things many times and so they lose the excitement of novelty. But there is more peace in my mind and a certain amount of detachment. This in turn helps me enjoy life more because I don’t get so caught up in things. The enjoyment that comes from things that excite the senses or please our ego is superficial and temporary. Certainly one needs some entertainment in order to refresh the brain, and I find that in sports to a large extent. In fact the pleasure I find in sports has not diminished, and I am even going back to watching cricket, thus bringing back memories of my youth. But I am glad I don’t need the stimulation from such things as much as I used to. I just stopped watching football and other highly commercialized sports. I find more satisfaction in doing things, especially things that make a difference in the world such as protecting nature. I also find more joy in making people happy.

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