City v. Country

Sometimes we forget who we actually are.  Music pounds out from our cars, television blurs our sight, and schedules become the raison d'etre.  Instincts that were programmed into us are now ignored, until an unguarded moment.

Spring in Iowa is actually one of the best and worst times of the year.  Storms are strong, the temperature varies from freezing cold to over eighty degrees, and the lure of the outside is the strongest.  This morning, the sky was purely blue and wonderfully unblemished, but the air under that sky was heavy.  There was a new kind of thickness that circled around me uncomfortably.  I, not wanting to care about anything but getting in the car and starting my day, slammed the door behind me and turned up the radio.

Lunch time.  I had forgotten Advil in my car and I could tell I would need it within another thirty minutes.  There was ten minutes until the start of the next class, so I hurried along.  I pulled the heavy door open and stepped out into the muggy blue-ness.  A few puffy thin clouds hung on high, but I worried only about how I had walked for two minutes and was already sweating.  Back inside.

Rushing, rushing, rushing.  Late to my flute lesson.  I flew down the road and parked -- remarkably well for my current mindset -- and ran inside.  There were more clouds in sky, but it was hard to notice them from indoors.  When I stepped outside once more, the sky in the west had begun to darken.  Now almost completely clouded over, the sky was the most beautiful it had been all day.  The stillness of the clouds cut the leaves and greenery into sharp edges.  The birds sang louder than ever before, conducting some unknown ritual.  Rain.  I felt it deep inside, that the sky would open and we would have a spring shower.  Somehow I knew there would be no thunder, no lightning -- just a soft patter of raindrops.

I can only imagine how difficult it must be to live in a city.  The rhythym and cadences of nature must be completely lost on those people who look up and see only a square of blue.  Furthermore, the appreciation of our world must be lost in that high pace of life, always doing, seeing, or going.  Although I would recommend living in the country or close to it, I know that it's not for everybody.  Some people love to shop or hate the smell of cows.  Some people prefer areas like California and its coastline to the rolling hills of Iowa.  This always confused me personally as well.  Why take pride in the fact that you're from a certain area of the nation (i.e. California Gurlz) if all that's there is a bunch of people and no water?  I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings but the country (or what I know of it from Iowa) has an entirely different pace of life that brings a person back to themself.  Try it, it's good for the soul.