Random thoughts and observations from an otherwise mundane existence.

It occurs to me that what seems the same is also different. Sometimes it’s a matter of perspective. Other times it simple forgetfulness. At my age perhaps the latter is the more common occurrence.

Take yesterday’s afternoon walk for example. I had it in mind to climb up to My Bitch from a path I hadn’t ventured on for several months. When I got to the trailhead I couldn’t get my walking stick to lock into place. I didn’t want to risk going up without it, so I retreated. I kept fooling around with the stick as I walked and eventually got it functioning properly. About this time I came upon another path leading up that I had used in the past, although mostly for coming down. So upward I climbed without much difficulty, although I noted it didn’t appear the path had been used much recently (covered with leaves and branches and such). When I reached the top, things looked vaguely familiar although I didn’t see anything resembling My Bitch. It was akin to those long-ago days when I searched for a way to get from Rizal Extension to Alta Vista and repeatedly failed.

So, I started down one path and just wasn’t feeling it somehow. So I turned around and tried another. This one wasn’t right either, but it had some faded powder on the ground so I knew it had been Hashed fairly recently. It wasn’t really familiar to me, but I followed it down the mountain anyway. And it eventually dumped me off on Rizal Extension (I had been hoping to find my way back to Alta Vista). I should have gone in the opposite direction. Ah well, everything old is new again when you can’t remember where you’ve been.

Speaking of perspective, Althouse linked to an article about an artist I never heard of (Jason Polan) who died recently at age 37. This is what stood out for me:

To walk down the street with him is just a reminder that, no matter how boring you think the day is, there are always interesting things around you.

If you think of just a walk to the corner as an opportunity to see something different, most of us don’t do that normally. He is just this super-voracious observer of everything.

That got me thinking about my walking routines which sometimes are borderline boring, I mean, there are only so many paths you can take in this small town. At least ones I’m willing to do alone. I listen to music which is nice, I think my thoughts that are mood dependent, and I plod along. This morning I decided to try and be more observant for interesting and different things along the way.

I’m going to make it a habit to be on the lookout for something new and interesting on my daily walks. Something besides flowers. Perhaps I’ll find a theme for the day as I try a new eyes wide open approach to my routines. We’ll see.

What else? Well, that damn Coronavirus thing is on everyone’s mind it seems, at least if my Facebook feed is any indication. No one knows just how bad it could get, but at least so far so good here in the Philippines.

Still, it seems the officials are taking forthright steps to prevent the spread of the virus. They’ve canceled the visa on arrival program for Chinese citizens. A planeload of tourists was sent back from Boracay. Subic Bay is a port of call for Chinese cruise ships so I was very happy to hear the news that ships due to arrive this week have been turned away. Of course, those same ships had just departed from Manila, so maybe too little, too late. Well, other than taking the normal precautions, what can you do? We’ve all got to die of something I suppose. I’m all for the later, the better though.

I’m making some progress in accepting there are things I can’t find easily in the Philippines. Sometimes you just have to do without. But I’m also learning to avail myself of goods and services that can be had if you know how to get them. Like shopping through Lazada, the Filipino Amazon.

This made me laugh:

That’s about it for today. Oh, I don’t know any German, so not sure what this is all about:

As always, thanks for reading!