There is no escaping the sweltering summer heat. It is after all the North American season. We’re drawn to it like the buzzing flies and the burbling birds in the bushes. Until a moment ago I languished uninterrupted in the blazing sunshine on the balcony, staring fixedly into the heavens (with my eyes closed, naturally), absorbing the radiance and Vitamin D, burnishing the exposed features of my decomposing corpus to an acceptable tan.
After breakfast this morning I hurriedly succumbed to a ritual tricycle ride about the neighbourhood. The overnight dreams and pointless conclusions had re-energized the need for absolution and coherence. It was a clear day, bright and airy. But curiously dull. There seemed to be nobody about. Certainly there were dog walkers fulfilling their constitutional mandates, though somewhat begrudgingly. But otherwise it were as though everyone had gone to the moon. More likely, thought I, they had gone to the cottage. Or perhaps they embarked upon a summertime expedition somewhere across this vast expanse we call Canada. Muted houses had the veneer of being temporarily shut and abandoned.
Maybe they were simply duffers, drooping in bed or lingering unprepared at the breakfast table. Today is Monday, June 29th. The quietude of the bailiwick reflected what I presume – from my remote perspective as a retired old fogey – is an extended commercial and business holiday precedent to the upcoming July 1st Canada Day celebrations on Wednesday. It is so long since I have had a drop of alcohol that I have forgetten the appeal and the apoplexy.
When afterwards I projected myself onto the highways in my EV, it quickly became evident that gypsies had overtaken. There was a constant stream of F150s hauling mobile homes, garden assortments, cycles, off-road vehicles and boats. And they were all heading northwest, away from the Capital toward remote rural wilderness, lake country and Algonquin Provincial Park. The Canadian countryside is broad and unprovoked. Urbanity quickly dissolves into banality.
Of the several things that captivate me, music is perhaps the most emphatic. In keeping with the amusement derived from technology generally, I have lately unearthed one of Apple Music’s odd alliances.
“I write to these albums all the time,” ‘For All Mankind’ creator Ron Moore tells Apple Music about his hand-picked selection of tracks for this exclusive playlist, inspired by his work on the Apple Original series. “They’re my go-to source of music when I’m trying to concentrate.” As you prepare to enter a world where the space race never ended, let this mix be your guide to new worlds. Watch For All Mankind on Apple TV.
Embellishing one’s immediacy is the answer to depth and understanding. The paradox of up or down, contradiction or enigma. Discovering the rewards of direct engagement guarantees the removal of platitudes and the acceleration of involvement. The nourishment of our connection with the Universe hinges upon the manifestations we attribute to detail. Once again the puzzle and mystery of life derives from inconsistencies and absurdities. I have chosen a summer day.