It strikes me that even when we are encouraged to go outside it is to do something. Walk to live longer; exercise to stay mobile; reduce your stress by a stroll in nature so that we are still focused on ourselves and not what is around us.
Even when people are out, their attention is drawn back to the glowing light in their pocket (I’m as guilty as anyone of this) and not to what is under their feet, above their heads or just out of their sight line.
Yesterday, I was walking in a cold and damp London. The buses were messed up and we were having trouble getting home. However, my husband said, There’s something I want to show you in Hatton Garden and walked me down Back Hill. He pointed to some covers in the road. What are they, he asked. Sewer covers, I replied. Then he pointed to a grid, And that one? I wasn’t so sure. It’s the River Fleet, he announced, It’s the only place you can see and hear it! Then we were down on our knees, with our phone torches (sometimes those things are handy), watching and listening to the flowing waters of the hidden Fleet River.
In that moment, the cold and the damp were forgotten in our excitement. Two middle-aged people chattering excitedly about an underground river. It was magical.
Stilgoe is right. Pay attention. The next moment of magic might be just around the corner.
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