Greetings 3 - Desire Lines

Hello, I'm here!

 My first walk of the year, to work off last night's food orgy

Things evolve ever so slowly around my neighborhood, but some things seem to change overnight, like the rice army that suddenly turned yellow-brown. 

These days, everybody is making New Year's resolutions even though the future is blurry and we can't see a quick end to the pandemic. But as I wrote in my last post, life goes on and we have to look forward. 

The red sign at the crossroads reads tomare (STOP) but stopping is the last thing we can afford to do right now. Hopefully, things are going to be better soon, so we should get ready for the times ahead. 

What would you like to accomplish in 2021?

Many of my hopes, as usual, are writing-related. Writing and reading: as you can see, even today I've taken a book with me, Travis Holland's wonderful The Archivist's Story.  It may not be the most optimistic story out there, but it's a thought-provoking, beautifully written novel. 

The cow and sheep trains keep making their short runs along my walking path. At one point, a desire line takes you to one of the stations. 

Desire lines are (I quote from the Wikipedia) paths created as a consequence of erosion caused by human and animal traffic. In other words, a desire line is a sort of shortcut - the shortest or most easily navigated route between point A and point B. 

During my walks, I even discovered "desire slopes" like the one above - not very clear, I'm afraid. Here's another one, a few meters to the right. 

I find the whole concept of the desire line utterly fascinating. Here are people who, not satisfied with the roads designed by the authorities, decide to create their own paths; to make up their own rules. In their small way, they are a declaration of independence. 

To me, right now, they convey our desire for a better, happier, worry-free time. 

(to be continued)

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