Catching Idle Butterflies

Slow down

Most of you know I’m a techno-geek. I tend to salivate over the newest electronic gadgetry, much to my hubby’s chagrin, because that also translates into me spending oodles of cash on them. Considering how fast technology moves, and it’s out of date the moment I open the box, buying electronics is a poor investment indeed.

Working in engineering I also love to see man’s newest creations such as bridges, tall buildings, aircraft, ships, and the like. I’m ceaselessly amazed at what we can accomplish given the right knowledge in mathematics, metallurgy, and physics, to name a few.

You would think, then, Alstom’s new rail train would excite me (see http://www.alstom.com ).

On April 3, 2007 and in France, the TGV™ set a new speed record of 574.8 kph (357.2 mph).

It didn’t excite me, but in fact saddened me when I saw a blip of it on the news. It reminded me of a scene in the Pixar/Disney movie Cars:

Sally Carrera and Lightning McQueen went for a drive, and they stopped at the top of a ridge overlooking Radiator Springs, Route 66, and the interstate. She then went on to describe why the interstate was built, and why Radiator Springs was dying. One of Sally’s lines struck me in particular:

“Back then they drove not to make great time, but to have a great time.”

Kåre เลียม Enga mentioned the highway beautification conceived by Lady Bird Johnson in his blog, "Flight of the unwanted son. Swandri, jandals, judder bars."  which only further makes my point we move too fast through life. A bit off subject, but I will add also Kåre เลียม Enga has shown me how to slow down and observe life around me more. He describes some beauty that is so subtle it must be savored. Some of it is so fleeting, missed once, and it’s gone forever.

Perhaps I’ve been ‘feeling my age’ lately, but I sometimes wonder if I have more days behind me than ahead of me. I have no guarantee I will survive today, let alone enter tomorrow with certainty. I want to slow down, and enjoy the free little things in life, such as study the intricate and unique beauty of a single snowflake before it melts on my coat sleeve, watch my dog play with her toys, share an intimate conversation, or spend a weekend camping with no phones, email, internet, or electricity.

It seems mankind is bent on focusing on the destinations in life instead of the journey. Because of that, we stress more, and I think we die sooner than we should. How many have died regretting they didn’t slow down? Did they wonder at the end what all they missed because they sought to move faster between points A and B, ignoring all the C-Zs in between that could have enriched their lives?

I live in a state smack in the middle of what many call Fly-over Country. They look out their airplane windows from far above and see nothing but prairie. It’s not much to look at from 30,000 feet, so the very idea of seeing it from a five-six foot high vantage point is anathema. If they must drive this vast wasteland, well it’s better to try to sleep through it all, work, or play with more electronic toys to pass the thousands-of-miles-long waste of hours and days.

I could add pictures of my small piece of this wasteland, showing it’s subtle, yet nonetheless breathtaking beauty if people took the time to look at it, but I won’t. Photos never do it justice. Some things need to be experienced direct, not from a two-dimensional photo, or even from my pathetic descriptions.

In the ten years I’ve lived here, I’ve seen more wildlife than my 27 years living in Colorado – a state more well-known for it’s wildlife. That includes wild turkey, deer, coyote, bald eagles, owls, antelope, pheasants, and more ducks and geese breed here than in almost any other place in the world.

I’ve seen some of the most breathtaking sunsets, and awe-inspiring thunderstorms. I’ve seen countless times the Aurora Borealis that sometimes lasted for hours and covered the entire sky, watched meteorites light up the sky, I could go on and on.

Even more, I’ve met people who live simply, who enjoy living slow and take every breath as a blessing instead of taking it for granted. I’ve come to love these people and treasure every moment with them, because there will come a day when that time will be no more.

I was never much of a Dan Rather fan, but in watching his show years ago about sex and violence on television, and all the things the government and technological gadgetry available designed to filter all the crap for us, he made a startling (read obvious) point I have yet to forget.

At the end of the piece he looked at the camera and said (paraphrased), “In the end, though, if you don’t like what’s on television, use the off button.”

The same goes with all the technology out there distracting me. I don’t have to use any of it, so all this complaining is a waste of even more time.

In the end, all I have to do is turn it off.

Along a similar vein, rose_shadow included a link in her blog ("Invalid Entry" ) about how people these days react – or not – to the beauty right in front of them. I couldn’t watch the videos, because the article alone made me want to weep. It’s a long article, but well worth your time: http://tinyurl.com/32a32w