Juxtaposition

I'm sitting in some amazing trees outside of Laws, working on my computer. The juxtaposition between the modern technology and this little patch of nature is quite lovely. There are obviously drawbacks to using the computer outside, like the fact that it's nearly impossible to use in bright sunlight. It makes me very aware of how badly my screen needs to be cleaned. If I want to see what I'm typing I have to use my own shadow to make a portion of it readable. But it's worth it, because the rest of the screen is filled with a picture perfect reflection of the trees above, with all their new year green leaves and even a few birds flitting around.

These trees have amazing twisty branches that form a roof over your head, and little perches where one can sit and even balance a laptop. Not exactly relaxing but it's lovely, because you almost can't see the street full of cars that's in front of you, or the concrete monstrosity that is Laws rising up to your right. You know they are there, though... the deep base boom of a passing car interrupts the birdsong, all possible natural smells are blotted out as cigarette smoke wafts in from the left, laundry smells from the right, the smell of the street from up ahead, and, most distracting, the smell of food frying at Dobbs. But that almost makes it nicer, almost makes you appreciate your tiny patch of nature more - the little spider that climbs the trunk of the tree not a foot from your face, stops and blends in perfectly... the birds that fly down and under the canopy of the trees and then back up into them, disappearing in a rustle of green.

It's a small and perfect world. I sit quietly, try not to move more than my fingers and my eyes. I wonder how many things I can see, how many pictures I can take, from just this one spot, moving only eyes and, I'll allow, my neck... spiders, birds, squirrels... even ignoring the endless variety of the people who pass by.