Long Walks On Leafy Streets

6/6/2013 Ossendrecht, Netherlands (Thanks to Rama Satish)
We returned to Washington, DC from Harper’s Ferry on the 17th of last month. It was a very pleasant journey on Amtrak. But before we left we were reminded of the fragile nature of life. We had gotten a bit early to the station thanks to getting a ride with the Nepali guy Prem who was working at the youth hostel. While we were waiting at the station we heard that a man had been killed by a freight train on the previous day. He and his wife had gotten out of a passenger train and were crossing the tracks. The passenger train hid the freight train and obviously it was too late by the time he saw it. Apparently his wife made it safely but he was killed on the spot. It was a little strange to sit in that beautiful building maintained as a museum by the National Park Service on a very nice day in that gorgeous valley knowing that only a short while ago it was the scene of a horrendous tragedy. I felt for the wife – she must have suffered terribly.
It made me feel fortunate to be alive and awaken to the fact that all life is ephemeral. Sometimes we live as if in a dream, unaware of the true nature of life. It takes something like this to jolt us out of that.
Speaking of the Nepali guy I had several nice conversations with him while I was staying at the youth hostel. He was an accomplished mountain climber who actually trained others as well, but was now working as a guide with one of the river rafting companies. Apparently much of Nepal’s economy depends on eco-tourism – mountain climbing, of course, but also river rafting and hiking. He told me he is seeing more and more young people from India coming to hike and climb in Nepal.
Prem also helped me by telling me about trails around Harper’s Ferry. I would not have been able to find my way from the youth hostel to the Loudoun heights on the Virginia side without going through Harper’s Ferry if he had not told me about a trail that went there. This trail is not mentioned in the maps or guide books.
During my stay in Harper’s Ferry I also got more and more into the identification of trees and plants. Certainly just seeing them is a joy but knowing their names is a useful tool and it gives one a certain pleasure to recognize a certain tree or plant by name. I find that there is a tremendous variety in the plant and tree population of DC. I was thrilled to find, after much effort at their identification, that on the Howard campus we have a cluster of willow oaks. These days whenever I walk on DC streets much of my attention is focused on the trees and plants, even more so than the buildings and people. Not that I don’t care about them but when one gets a new interest one tends to focus more of one’s attention on it.

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