It is one of the warmest January days on record. At a comfortable 70 degrees, I can sit outside in the sun and allow my mind to be tricked into thinking that spring is now here. I walk this route day after school-day, on my way to class. It is a path that leads down below the street, and over the river that passes through the middle of downtown. There are shorter, more efficient routes that I could take, but this is one always calls to me. Like a quiet sentinel, this river is an oasis in the middle of the city, and I often imagine the alpine slopes and silent woods that it must wind through in order to find me. It also has a magical quality about it, for out of the corner of my eye I often see the waters of my favorite camping-spot, where I’ve stayed since I was a child.
The sounds of the river are also mystical, for no matter how loud the cars, trucks, and emergency vehicles can be; the gentle murmur of the river still carries out over the noise. For it, unlike man-made counterparts is consistent. Some days it is peaceful and playful, babbling over stones and around sand-banks, while still others; swollen with the run-off of a distant rain it complains loudly as it courses through its too-small path. But on the day of my writing, it is a balm, for it joins with nature to laughingly throw off winter’s mantle, defying the cold death-grip out of sheer pleasure – to provide a day of enjoyment for a student such as myself, and also for the runners, walkers, bicyclists and myriad of pets that need to stretch their legs.
In a week or two I will pass by this grassy slope, bundled tightly against the freezing temperatures which will remain for months, and I will smile. For today is a hidden gem to be remembered with pleasure, not simply for the beautiful chance to sit and be warmed by the sun; but because of what today symbolizes. That winter, like any sort of bondage, can be thrown off simply and quickly to the freedom of all.
And for a student such as myself, that is good to remember. . .
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