Macro Millennium Moments.....
It's funny how you take things for granted.
I work, as I've mentioned far too often, within a stupidly short distance of the quayside in Newcastle upon Tyne. Urban regeneration, leisure features, art gallery, music venue and the bridge - all available to use when needed.
The strange thing is that I tend to spend my lunchtime at work at my desk. It's a regular round of having a bite to eat, checking up on blogland and places like "Google news" or "News Now". It's pleasant enough and it distracts me enough to give the impression of not being at work for that hour.
For a change, however, I decided to get out of the office and into the glorious sunshine we've been enjoying today. With my lunch in hand, and my ears filled with far more music than I'll ever need, I sat for 45minutes on Millennium Bridge and soaked up the sun whilst watching the world go by.
There's something great about actively doing nothing for a period of time. Time passed a lot slower than staying in at work and the mixture of real life and music made for a great break. You suddenly notice little things that you'd miss when just concentrating on getting from A to B. Odd details on buildings, combinations of clothing, the fact there are more colours in the river Tyne than you'd noticed.....all the minutiae that pass you by.
It went along the lines of:-
Sits down and realises metal seats are REALLY hot
Switches player to random for a change
Type O Negative
Get mesmerised by the way the gulls circle round as if on strings
Depeche Mode
Ooooh look, some American tourists !
Johnny Cash
Shall I eat the apple or the banana ?
Tom Waits
Aaaaaah, look at the little tug boat !
Queen Adreena
Still 30mins left ? Wonderful !!
Devin Townsend
Ha ! That kid fell over !
The Arcade Fire
Wish I'd brought my shades today.
...and it carried on like this for the best part of the hour.
Now to many of you this may seem incredibly banal, possibly verging on boring, but the point is that it's very easy to take things for granted when they're on your doorstep. I've crossed the bridge twice a day for many weeks now when going to and from work, but never actually sat there and used it as anything other than functional.
posted by Just Somebody @ 4:19 pm
2 comments
2 Comments:
Oddly enough - about taking things for granted - I agree - one never notices the things closest. For example, Newcastle is a wealth of history (which is made far too much of now in the centre down at Wallsend), but once, when I went to school, and most of my classmates went off to Belgium for a week, and I was one of the ones who couldn't afford it, I was part of the 'do lots of local things of interest' groups instead (things that didn't cost any money). So we toured the parts of Hadrian's Wall that are actually visible in Newcastle (that people pass every day and don't know about), and we went on a tour of the steel works at Consett (now sadly pulled down). And although I missed out on 'going abroad' at the time, actually looking back I'm really glad I had the opportunity to go to these places.
Sometimes it's good to stop and smell the roses.
and the thing is, an mp3 player (I was going to say an iPod) just makes it better somehow undefineably!
Good for you! Being a tourist in your own area (as Onkroes mentioned) can be quite an eye opening experience. You get to see 'everyday' things with the eyes of a tourist. New eyes. It is too easy to go for speed, efficiency, and point A to B in daily living that most of us miss the wonderful sights and experiences that are ours for the taking... if we just take the time to look and actually see.
You should make it a point to do that more often; consider it a treat for yourself! Then you can work your way up to pretending that you are hosting your own travel television show. =)
And by the way... how did you spot the Americans?! Britney Spears concert tees? Obnoxiously loud and abrasive behavior? (I want to know what 'not' to do should I travel your way!)
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