"...and the human tragedy consists in the necessity of living with the consequences..."
(Title and opening line credit to "Courage" by The Tragically Hip)
Things I miss since owning the Gas Whore: Sunday afternoon drives.
Today was brilliant and blue. Barely above freezing, the sun was imperious enough to effect change. The blanket of snow was losing depth and the sounds of birds singing mixed with water running off made me think that the river must be breathtaking today. I gave up on my Sunday afternoon cleaning and headed down to the river to gaze and read and gaze some more.
I definitely did more gazing. Broken ice floated along downstream and I started to think of the freighters. Winter is hardly over but, before long, it will be shipping season again and the weather conditions that serve as a barrier to the freighters will bow out.
Gas prices be damned, I took my thoughts on a Sunday afternoon drive.
Mostly, I'm sure that aside from senior citizens, I'm the only non-tourist in my area that sees the freighters as grand. Their presence in the summer is strangely reassuring and, for some reason, it almost pains me to realize that something so simple with such an inexplicable power over me actually isn't all-powerful. Lakes bring on a whole new element to winter, an element powerful enough to end shipping season annually. It's sad. It's a test.
No matter how strong a man is, no matter what he creates, there's always something stronger that he can't control.
The test is in how he handles it and whether he's strong enough to let it pass and be content with the fact that, sometimes, there have to be rules (such as those that govern shipping season) set to provide guidance to his limits.
And I know that I am limited. That, sometimes, no matter how badly I want something or what I think I can accomplish, there are limits.
The trouble is in acknowledging them and responding by saying, "shipping season has come to an end this year, folks."
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