Went out for a little jaunt today. Southward, toward the city. I passed through the Roger Williams Memorial park, not to be confused with Roger Williams Park in the west. Took note of a couple of sculptures I hadn't seen before.
This route is nice because I know I can make the whole thing on foot. Buses are less crowded now, but in other ways have gotten more unpleasant, so sometimes I just give myself a break from them.
The endpoint before I made a u-turn and went home was the waterfront. There's a little dock on the river, looks like it could only service one boat at a time. I stood on it for a few minutes, listening to the current lap the wood. On the railing was a little cobweb. The spider had left it behind, it looked like. It glittered in the sun, delicate enough that I could have swiped it away with one movement of a hand, but of course I wouldn't want to.
Watching the little things nature does in the background can be soothing in the midst of hectic human activity. Or the lack thereof, as the case may be.
This route is nice because I know I can make the whole thing on foot. Buses are less crowded now, but in other ways have gotten more unpleasant, so sometimes I just give myself a break from them.
The endpoint before I made a u-turn and went home was the waterfront. There's a little dock on the river, looks like it could only service one boat at a time. I stood on it for a few minutes, listening to the current lap the wood. On the railing was a little cobweb. The spider had left it behind, it looked like. It glittered in the sun, delicate enough that I could have swiped it away with one movement of a hand, but of course I wouldn't want to.
Watching the little things nature does in the background can be soothing in the midst of hectic human activity. Or the lack thereof, as the case may be.
2 comments:
Did you know Roger Williams, the fiery religious revolutionary who thundered “Forced worship stinks in the nostrils of God!” was a Baptist? He wasn't a Southern Baptist, though, but a General Six-Principle Baptist who believed that you shouldn’t be baptized until you were old enough to choose your religion for yourself. They also had no problem with the practice of magic.
Interestingly, something I learned about John the Baptist, the one who baptized Jesus, was that he'd hold the initiate under water just long enough to have them experience a near death state. As you know very little is known of Jesus until his Baptism after which he spent forty days in the desert from which he returned ready to teach. I'd always wondered about John's role and this story provided a logical answer to the mystery.
The walk you described sounded like a nice one and, yes, it's a treat to be able to spend some time contemplating the exquisite beauty of a place we'd often barely notice, or not see at all in busier times. We've been lucky that way too. The good news for us today was having the hummingbird return to our little balcony garden for the first time now that there are a few of the flowers they like to sip. There will be more in bloom soon.
We're also beginning to see signs the lockdowns may end soon too. Let's hope so. Funny how something so easy to begin can be very tricky to end.
Oh yes, Roger Williams was a Baptist by the time he set out for the New World. He founded the First Baptist Church in America, which is right across from the tunnel that heads from South/North Main St up to Thayer. Ron got married there, since his first wife was a Baptist. I did not know about the magic thing, which is neat.
John the Baptist is an intriguing figure, still somewhat mysterious. He's believed to be one of the Essenes, a mystical Jewish sect responsible for the Dead Sea Scrolls. This would track, since Jesus is believed to have been influenced by their theology. John is worshiped as the true prophet by the Mandaeans, a Middle Eastern Gnostic sect which probably won't be around much longer. And Eastern Christians consider him the last Old Testament prophet. I do remember Andre Gregory playing him in The Last Temptation of Christ.
I bet it's a treat to see the hummingbirds again. They bring an extra splash of color to your deck, along with the flowers of course. The robins have arrived here, or at least that's what I'm guessing. Some have more orange than red on their chest. More of those hoppy birds, of course.
I'm seeing signs the lockdown could end as well. I don't know when restaurants will be able to seat people again. When you don't have to wear a mask inside anymore, I guess, unless you're supposed to get hooked up to a feeding tube. It's hard to admit you're wrong when you've gone so big.
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