Second Spring

It was a short drive. One minute we were in downtown DC and before we knew it, we were already at Anglers' Inn, one of the points of entry into the Billy Goat Trail - a hiking trail which, in the words of a DC resident fellow hiker, is a DC institution. (Though if the number of obscenely obese people I've seen in Washington is any indication, a hiking trail - and hiking in general - cannot be that strong an institution in this part of the world.)

The trail is also apparently connected to downtown DC by the C&O Canal which apparently leads to Ohio. A trek that I might consider after graduation. Not.

It was a gloriously sunny day, but it was cold. I wore three layers including my winter jacket - a big mistake as I was later to find out; I was swimming in sweat not even half way into the hike. Apart from the need to navigate through clusters and clusters of boulders, it was a relatively easy hike. It had to be. I survived.

The hike consisted mainly hiking along the Potomac River, good conversation, photo taking and occasional pauses to absorb the colours of autumn. Albert Camus was right: L'automne est un deuxième printemps où chaque feuille est une fleur. Autumn is indeed a second Spring; when every leaf is a flower. It occasionally struck me that parts of the scenery presumably have not changed since pre-Columbian times.

Sigh. America, America. So tame and man-made and contrived. And yet so wild. I might still come to love this country yet.

Comments

[Bryan]

wah! indah sekali! mengapa anda tidak bertanyalah saya pergi ke sana dengan anda?? - stalker.

[fazu]

Ceitt! Sampai ke sini engkau? Bedebah!