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Walking Neenah

Posted on by Future Neenah

A Walk In The Cloudsrandom walk

The sunrise… the beginning of something amazing and wonderful, it represents opportunity and commerce. It’s this first thing that I see this morning and I decide to enjoy it. To begin my sunrise morning walk around the block, I slip on my sneakers and make my way downstairs. As my feet thud against thick hardwood flooring, a clear blue sky greets me outside my window.

Some trees along Church Street’s edge whistle from wind flowing through them. I open the front door and a breeze greets me. It is thick and strong, strong enough to cling the red cotton T-shirt to my chest.

“This is gonna be a nice walk…” I say to myself inaudibly.

I make some strides along the concrete sidewalk, annoyed by the sound of clashing horns and engines revving at a crimson red light – all of them, so eager to speed up only so they can stop again. I, on the contrary, am in no hurry. I let the wind cling to my T-shirt and the heavy clutter (my penniless wallet, stuffed with photos and keepsakes and my phone, soundless) in my cargo shorts pocket. A substantial pair of objects is responsible for each imbalanced and shambling step. The bottom of my sneakers scrapes the concrete as I make my way to the cherry red stop sign block.

As I stand at the sign, I look across the street I notice an immense oak tree, its age is far beyond me. It seems that I haven’t ever seen it. Blades of grass are new to these eyes. Another bright and exciting light glistens off morning dew on the plants along the sidewalk. Taking a right and then another I step, gliding along concrete sidewalk on a journey around this block. As this venture proceeds, cars zoom past. I walk far from the traffic, deeper into this neighborhood. I’m walking to a musical beat of my own thoughts, so there is no sound until thinking. Thoughts provoke me, bringing me to the edge of this cliff that is my mind, “How long must I dwell on this earth? Where am I really going in life?” The questions seem to pile up, aimless and immense. They are pushing me towards the edge then suddenly dispersing from my mind, erased. Those thoughts disperse with ease like pedals in a pond. Now I’m directing attention to some surrounding spectacles: the milky dew among the sweet green earth, and the glistening sun on the leaves above me.

While I walk, I take the time to notice each entity, the bricks along the sides of my neighborhood’s houses, petals falling from trees, and an orange brown tumble of fallen leaves. Each sight overtakes me. These thoughts have stopped, dead in their tracks. Now, concentration shifts to atmosphere and how it affects me. Birds coo, synced with my every move, and leaves seem to follow my every step, the cold concrete beneath me leads me down a path I cannot recognize even though I’ve traveled it many times before. The breeze… oh, it carries me, not forward or backward, but rather upward. With each step, I float further from earth. The sirens begin to dissipate and the bird’s sweet harmonies swim through the air. I am weightless in the breeze as I soak up the sweet smell of bark and moss of backyards and trees. I fall into the sky, seeing only clear blue and specs of cotton. No longer feeling footsteps at all. Each ounce of energy transfers to my senses. I’m breathing potent floral air as it sneaks deeper, filling these lungs of mine. Blows of wind kiss each ears’ curves while drifting into the new, and eternal world I am inside of.

“This is what life’s all about.”

Find a cloud and follow it is all I can manage to think of. Searching the endless blue sky only leads me to find one petite cloud in the distance. It must be miles away, it floats into my hands within seconds. Time is never traceable here, I can’t find a difference between an hour and one second. This sky is a never ending sea I’m swimming in that I don’t ever want to leave. But there is an end to all good things. An alarming sound of a police siren brings me back down as it whizzes past me. I realize my journey is done and I am back at my house. Finally venturing across the street to the oak tree and I fall asleep in its shade. Before I fall into the abyss of slumber, I ponder the purpose behind my experience.

“Why did this happen to me, why now?” I ask myself.

The only answer I can come up with is a higher being. There must be something guiding me, a higher being of sorts. There’s a reason for everything, embrace every moment and take nothing for granted. Be grateful and kind to others, one never knows when their time may come. The clouds could have kept me but they gave me a gift of enrichment and provided perspective.

Article by NHS Arete Student Francis Turoski

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