Long Walks On Leafy Streets

10/3/2013 Roosevelt Island, Washington, DC
It is a cloudy albeit warm fall morning here in Washington. My mind has been in a rather addled state during the past week during which I have been battling a virus. Although it did not stop me, I could not function as usual. The mind was restless and it was difficult to concentrate. My sleeping habits became irregular.
Although I continued with all my normal activities the body was clearly not 100 percent. Perhaps because of the virus or perhaps because of the nature of the situation the political chaos in Washington also aggravated the turbulence in my mind. I felt that the tea party Republicans have been behaving utterly irresponsibly. Nevertheless because of my belief in the goodness of all people I am trying to understand where they are coming from. For the sake of my own sanity I decided to reduce the attention I pay to the news also.
At times like these being in nature is truly therapeutical.
I was fortunate to have the company of nine other members of the nature lovers meetup group along on a hike that I led in Roosevelt Island last Saturday. To see details and pictures from this event click on the little photo at the top of this page and then click on Nature Lovers Meetup. The hike is titled “Sunset Hike in Roosevelt Island.”
We started from the Georgetown waterfront near the Swedish embassy. It was a cloudy day with the sun peeking through the clouds very briefly. People started trickling in and we made small talk. There were some who were new to the group and others that I have met before. Marc, an electric car enthusiast and Nissan Leaf owner, Marty who works with a US weather agency and Jim from Arlington have hiked with us before. Rozanne, a Georgetown resident, Maria from Russia, Andy from L.A and Jan a native Washingtonian were new to the meetup. We walked through the newly completed waterfront park and then over the Key Bridge. Now the sun started to poke its head through the clouds more. The views were simply spectacular, especially against the setting sun. Both the Waterfront Park and Roosevelt Island were full of wildflowers in bloom. We got to walk through the marshes on a wooden walkway. People really enjoyed the island and the marshes. Even though we were in the middle of a bustling metropolis, the island gave us a little taste of being in the woods and wetlands. Originally a farmer’s ranch, it has been converted to a park with a monument to Teddy Roosevelt in the middle. All nature lovers must be grateful to Roosevelt for the actions he took to protect the wilderness.
Earlier this week I was listening to Obama making a statement on the crisis from the White House. I was struck by the sound of the birds chirping in the background. Listening to the birds in the middle of all this commotion going on in our political capital reminded me that this is also a place of nature, that there is more to life than our own daily struggles. Yesterday I had to take my dad to the Doctor. I had to wait a little bit to pick up a Zipcar from near my work. I use this hourly rental service whenever I need to get somewhere quick and don’t want to use my Toyota Avalon. I talked about the Avalon in my post on 9/29. Anyway, at first I was a little irritated that I couldn’t open the car right away, as I normally could. For some reason this particular Zipcar was not opening even though there was less than 15 minutes for the start of the reservation. So I had to just stand there until the starting time. While I was waiting I noticed the chirping of birds. It was a warm and sunny fall afternoon and the chirping of the birds was a pleasant surprise. Especially on busy Georgia avenue with its traffic and noise and constant screaming of police and ambulance sirens. Listening to the birds helped me to calm down, relax and just enjoy the day, knowing that I am like everything else just a part of nature and it is all beautiful.

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