Country Free

Often, we see the country for what it has: majestic beauty.  Hues that only a people-less nature can offer.

Lately, I’ve been pondering what it doesn’t have. And I think it contributes equally to this sanctuary for the soul.

For starters, the country doesn’t often have headlines beyond stories like “the wild chives and buttercups” are out.

Photo by @NYFarmer from Twitter 

That’s quite a contrast to Toronto, a city where political intellect focuses on a Mayor and his association with crack. Or some crazy thing people have done causing outrage. 

There’s not much politics for the mind out here. You couldn’t even make it up.

Less people also means there is less a feeling of inequality or injustice – unless we’re talking about dial up connections and internet access.

Sanctuary from media is soulful.

It is beautiful.

One national columnist I knew pondered how far he’d have to travel to hear no news. “That’s a vacation.”

A place where the news is seeing each drop of rain, each snowflake falling, each leaf blowing in the wind or a ray of sun hitting the water. Where we feel the pulse of life.

I have gone up to 11 days without spending a dime. I can even work 15 hours uninterrupted.

In the City, I can’t recall a day that happened. The City is set up to tap into your pockets and time like a suction cup. There seems to always be the next obligation of the day, these days, twice at once.

The seduction of bars and live events – or a constant desire to leave home to socialize…leave 4  walls closing in…compel the cabbing, the driving, the cycling, or public transit to the next stop.

In the country, there is only one stop – here.

No rush hour or New York minute. No competition for attention. Only the timeless state of being.

The eyes pay attention if there’s purple suddenly in the field. Animals roam freely unleashed.

No pre-defined path for circulation 

You can hear a heartbeat and see the stars.

It would be hard to see man-made rules top of mind.

The nearest traffic light is miles away. There’s not even a No Parking or No Stopping sign, from this time to part of next time.

There is no timeline. There is no need to even parallel park.

I can’t even remember the last time I saw a stranger in angst saying, “I had a bad day.”

Road rage between walkers, bikers and drivers – the country has no such collisions. There is no need to shoot someone the bird. We’d be grateful to just see another person.

The pre-conceived guarded behaviour against unruly behaviour is let go.

People at the nearest gas station, liquor store, DVD rental stop, and post office all know me even if I haven’t shown up in 6 months. Sometimes I think I see them more than good friends I know in the City.  Everyone is so busy in the City. All the time. Double time.

In the country, the manufactured pre-occupations are gone. The strangeness of strangers or distance of friends in their own world, non-existent.

The sun rises every morning. And it is noticed.

Later in the night, a firefly visited