Reflections from my stream of consciousness

As the greyhound bus’s engine bustles in the background, I find the sudden urge to reflect about the past and future. I dip my hand into messenger back only to find that my moleskin will not accompany this time to Istanbul.

Just as I was dreaming that life couldn’t be more stationary and that I would spend the rest of my life in Charlottesville, my alarm rings at 7:50 am. The notion of living in a world where it was possible to grey by living in the same spot was almost as daunting as a nightmare. It was time for change, and it could not have been delivered in a more pleasant way than that knowing, in a matter of hours, I would be flying to a city that I hold so dear to my heart, Istanbul. The actual hassle of having to get out of bed was a different story, so even though my bus would leave in less than an hour, I preferred to lie in bed dreaming some more, but this time about Istanbul.

On the bus, I look up to the sky and see the grey clouds pass by. It excites me that I will be among them in a couple of hours. I wonder if they will have the distinct pleasure of accompanying me to Istanbul. May the winds bless them.

As I sit contemplating of the possibilities and ecstasies one can experience by traveling, I get anxious, in a good way of course. I just can’t wait for this bus to pull out of the station so I can begin describing the gorgeous Virginian scenery.

As we drive through Afghani Grand Market International Bazaar, the Main Street Market, Bistro Zinc, Blue Moon Diner, and a Baptist Church. We then pass a railroad crossing. Railroads are my favorite. They put you on an infinite train of thought about the endless possibilities of travel that merely hopping on a train can put you on. I lose concentration to the chattering of a Hispanic in the background.

I then realize that writing on the computer isn’t such a bad idea, at least my ideas don’t look like chicken scratches when I’m done jotting them down. Also, it benefits you the reader since I don’t feel inclined to conceal them from you when their put on

We pass the statue of Lewis and Clark, the great pioneers who discovered America. It sits lonely guarding the Downtown Mall this morning against the backdrop of Charlottesville’s mystically aesthetic Blue Ridge Mountaiins. Oh how beautiful Charlottesville can be this early this morning. Am I going to miss it? I wonder to myself.

We then pass through the Virginian suburbs with their uniformly structured, multi-colored houses, each with their traditional Southern rocking chair on the porch.

As we get on the high way, the forests envelop us. They remind me of the forests where the Dinosaurs of my childhood used to live in Vienna. The amazing thing about merely looking out the window on a long journey like this is that you’re not just journeying through Virginia’s landscape, but also through your memories. Each image your eyes lock on springs another memory to mind. Simply tying these stimuli into a chain can put allow you to visualize a film of your life in memories. The physical landscape is merely a reflection of how you feel. I have come to love the landscape that I have become so familiar with from my frequent trips to and fro DC. If you find it aesthetically pleasing, then you have achieved internal peace of mind. If it frustrates you, then you are at unease. It is like looking into a well at the reflection of your life at the bottom of the abyss.

The trees are leafless and their silhouettes against the morning blue sky remind me of loneliness as they wait for spring to come around the corner to grow new leaves. For what is a tree without its leaves? The velvet brown horses in the meadows remind me of elegance, nobility and tranquility in the way hey stroll around. The geese in the sky guide me with initiative, direction, and the sense of being on a mission. The vast yellow-grassed meadows teach me humility and the awe that beholds me at the notion that there is a greater power out there and that we are merely specs in its ultimate design. Oh how beautiful Virginia must be to stir up so emotions in me. As we penetrate deeper into the countryside and the sun begins to also penetrate through the cloudy skies, the world seems to come to life. Lakes, creeks, and meadows… this is a scene to beautiful to be missed out on… time for some photography.