I live in a tourist town. Yeah, it’s a pain in the ass sometimes: giving directions, acting as the tourist information booth, all the strangers, the noise, etcetera etcetera etcetera …I suppose that’s a small price to pay for living in one of the most beautiful places on the planet.
It starts getting all touristy here in March, when the fish start biting. It stays all touristy here until about the fourth of July, when it gets too damn hot to do touristy things. We get a brief uptick around Halloween from biker rallies in the area, but otherwise it is nice and quiet around here throughout the autumn and winter months.
It’s about to officially be autumn, which means it is relatively quiet around here.
AAAAAAAHHHHH
I woke up this morning to silence. No tourists, no weekenders, just us locals that don’t make much noise. It was also in the low seventies (fahrenheit, low twenties celcius). It’s finally starting to think about cooling off. We’re still looking at 90-ish for the highs, but it seems as if the malice has left the afternoon heat. (That’s actually rare around here–usually around this time of year, we’re still looking at near 100F for daytime highs.) With any luck, I’ll actually be able to wear clothes again soon, maybe even a light sweater!
Now that the heat has broken, I will get to enjoy the benefits of living in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. I stood by the river this morning and just stared in awe at the wonder of it all.
Days like today, when there are no tourists and no stupetaculous heat, I can remember the meaning of life. This moment.
This moment is all we really have–yesterday is gone and I can’t change it, tomorrow never really arrives. I have to take time to be in the moment and truly live it, as it’s happening. I can look back on today with fondness tomorrow, but I can never relive it.
So today, I’m going to go enjoy this moment in one of the most beautiful places on the planet.