Japan awakens in me gratitude. I am grateful for New York, its polluted air and all that displeases me.
Mourning begets Gratitude
How can I fall in love with New York City when I have climbed the hills of Switzerland, when I have camped in the Pyrenees Mountains, walked along the Adriatic Coast, hiked Mt. Tamalpais, walked amongst the grapes in Sonoma County, picked oranges in Israel, when I have skied the slopes of Austria, seen the temples of India, got lost and found in Denver’s Rocky Mountains?? I struggle to find peace and pleasure here in this metropolis. My eyes fall upon supermarkets, gourmet food shops, clothing stores, restaurants, fast food shops, coffee shops, hairdressers, manicurists, more restaurants one after the other never ending. And then there is Central Park, thank goodness. Yet my eyes, my nose, long for the beauty of the unaltered, untamppered with physical world, of multi-colored nature. Nothing nurtures me more than looking out into fields of green, visiting with my eyes, hills too steep to climb, forests too thick to visit, while breathing deeply the fresh, wholesome air of dormant Mother Nature.
