Beauty

Leeds 11th of October 2007

It’s dirtier than Singapore here. It’s not as shiny. There are no domestic workers working their ass off to keep the sidewalks or streets clean and tidy. No government that plants trees in between the driving lanes on the roads.

But walking fast to the point where you feel like flying. Rounding the first corner on the street in the morning. Speeding up like Sherlock Holmes himself. Talking long steps, leaning forward and finding the speed. I must have walked several tenths of kilometres since I came here. Cross-walking the city for areas with properties for rent – Hotel – College – Internet Café – Bus Station – Real-estate Agent – Food – Church – Country Side…
Slow lifts, running stairs – don’t walk!
Cool dry air. I love the morning sun and the slight sea breezes on the East Coast of Singapore. But running after the bus in the morning, getting sweat, buttoning your shirt up to the threshold of decency, leaning back, freezing to ice on SMART’s new super busses and then diving into the wet and warm again ten minutes later…

I used to run after my father when we were walking in the city when I was a kid. He is even taller than I am now and when he walked in normal speed (for him) it was some workout keeping up! Sometimes he would grab my hand and I would hang like a scarf in the wind behind him. Or that’s how it felt at least.

Anyway, I have missed walking fast. Like, in concrete thoughts that is. Sometimes I would run up staircases in Singapore and get short of breath, and I would go: “oh no! what’s happening to me?” Today I moved in on the 5th floor (6th level) of a downtown building. The lift was slow, I ran up and I hardly got higher pulse at all.

When I left the hotel I carried 40-50 kg. 25-30 on my back, 10-15 in a backpack on my stomach and 10 in my hands, that is golfclubs and a guitar. It (physically) opens my eyes, straightens me up, makes me more curious about what’s around the bend. It almost feels like I’m off to the mountains again to set up a base camp and lead a group of trekkers. But no, I was just going to my apartment.

A yellow leaf fell inches from my nose yesterday and caught my attention only when it was about to pass my eyes. Beauty.
But the walking too (beauty) –probably the most! Understand it if you can.