Prompt 8-Nature and Thoughts

My goal with this blog assignment was to be one with nature. When I read other nature articles, there is sense that these writers go to a place where other people can’t.  I don’t know if they are making it up or they actually believe nature is it’s on entity. The first times I went to my spot, it was just a spot. It was a place where I can go to relax and run without being bothered. Now, I feel like the land is talking to me. I’m not sure if that’s nature talking or if I’m going crazy.

                I realize this spot changed throughout the hour. I don’t know why, but I just assumed the weather would be the same if I went here at any time of the day or night. Maybe it’s because in the beginning I was running to this spot, sweating and trying to catch my breath. Now, I walk here, watching my breath swirling in the wind as if I was smoking a cigarette. Most of the times I’ve been here, it’s been frigid. I don’t own a lot of winter clothes, so every time I came here I was more resentful than anything else. It was hard to concentrate at times. Sometimes I just looked at my watch hoping 20 minutes would pass by in an instant.

                I guess after awhile I got use to it. Even though it was hard to concentrate when the snow was blowing in your face, it made me stronger. My skin felt like it was burning and my eyes turned red. Any temperature above freezing was like paradise to me now.  Weather changed me. Well Pittsburgh weather did. It made me expect the unexpected. I’m sure if I was in Hawaii where the temperature was always in the 70’s, I would know what to expect. However, after awhile, it would be boring. Each day was something different in Pittsburgh. True, mostly it would be full of gloomy clouds and unhappy faces, but now and then, you would get a smile, even from a homeless person.

                At first, thoughts of being warm were the only thoughts that came popping through my head. It slowly evolved into useful thoughts: “Why does each snowflake have to be unique,” “Why is the grass still green after being covered in snow for a month,” and “Why can it be short shorts weather one day, and the next day it might start hailing?”

                To me nature is about thoughts. Things that help stir up something in your head. Every time I went to this spot, something new happens. It was pretty wonderful. Sometimes I wouldn’t move without knowing it. I would be so deep in thought that if anyone saw what I was doing, they would think I was a part of nature.  

Place 8 (A quickie before Prompt 8)

Everyone complains about the weather. Not today. It’s beautiful. I don’t like using that word because it doesn’t explain anything. The Mona Lisa is beautiful. My girlfriend is beautiful (She’s sitting right next to me). Where I am standing right now, only one word can describe this, beautiful.

                Maybe it’s because I’m not used to seeing this many people in shorts. Last week, I was wearing a sweater and a snow jacket. Today, I’m overheated with jeans and a sweater. I’m here on my lunch break. I’ve never felt so glad to be on lunch. There’s something different when you’re eating outside. Food seems to taste better.

                People are playing Frisbee right in front of me. I want to join, but I decide I’ll sit on t he grass and watch. This is the first time in awhile where I can sit on the grass and not get any kiss marks from it. The ground feels cold. My head feels the heat, while my butt thinks it’s on an ice cube. I don’t care. I just want to enjoy the first real day of spring. We had spring days before. They were more like teasers of things to come. Today is what days will be like in the future. I want to enjoy this day and think about those coming days where winter will be here again.

Prompt 7 Connection to Storms

I always had a connection with storms. Not just rainstorms, but blizzards, tornadoes, flash flood warnings. Storms that have most people hiding in their house because it’s too dangerous out to go outside.  To me, these storms are like students that no one liked in school and had no friends. Why should sunshine be the only one to have friends?

There was a big snow storm in South Korea last year. It was the first time in 20 years that all the schools in Seoul got shutdown. The only people you would see in the streets were military people who had to clean everything up, well military people and me.  As they were shoving the snow from the streets (I guess Korea never thought about investing in snowplows), I was running in three layers of pants and a hooded sweatshirt in the middle of the street. Cars were abandoned and most were unlocked. It would be paradise for people who played Grand Theft Auto, but all those people stayed in their homes playing the video game instead. On that day, I ran for three hours.

I don’t feel the same way with sunny days. It might be because deep down I’m a loner, and I don’t like to sweat. When I look outside during a thunderstorm, I see loneliness, but feel happy that I can play outside with them. As a child, they were like scary movies to me. A part of me was afraid, but I would still keep watching.

Now as an adult (I guess I’m an adult) I’m still afraid, but instead of watching, I’m in the movie. And what I know about scary movies is that the Asian kid never dies. My mom would yell at me for running outside when there’s lightning out. She doesn’t understand the probability of me getting struck by lightning is me winning the lottery. My dad plays the lottery almost every week. There was once where he had every number correct except for one. Once he wins the lottery, I’ll stop running.

As an adult though, I get fewer chances to run in storms than when I was a kid. I’m either working or sleeping. If I’m so lucky enough to be woken up by a storm I usually go for a walk. My least favorite storms are hail storms, but even then, if I have enough clothes on and have a hockey mask, I don’t mind hail so much.

Flood warnings are the best. Living in Erie, we got them a lot. When water reaches your knees and at anytime you could get hit by a car, well that’s living on the edge for me. I can’t tell you how many times cars honked at me either for saying “Hi” or saying “Get the F out of the road.” To me this is how you experience nature. You go head on and hope your dad doesn’t win the lottery.