I've got nothing much more to say on this topic, but am replying to it anyway to point out the contrast between what I wrote (below) and the angry, panicked, out-of-control, gotta-get- Barry reaction to it by DocDumbass, Judy, Ann, and Ravi.
Pretty interesting, wouldn't you say? :-) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > So it's Friday, and the End Of The World to boot. Cool. > > So I finished all my work for the week a few minutes ago, and then chose to > celebrate it by taking a walk around the 'hood I live in, prior to > celebrating it by going out to dinner with my extended adoptive family. > > And the walk was just smokin', which is why I'm writing about it. > > Really uplifting and wonderful. Consider this my belated Wussy Wednesday > submission. Also, just in case the world really does end in a few minutes, > consider it one of my last comments on it. > > One of the benefits of living in a tight, crowded-by-some-people's-standards, > inner-city, European 'hood is that you get to Walk In History. The house > behind ours, situated on the canal that used to be just inside the fortified > walls of this medieval city, was built in 1660. The canal predates it, > commerce tending in history to predate the lifestyles of those who profited > from it. > > The Herengracht is not officially one of the biggest or most significant of > the waterways in my city, but it has its charms. All of the buildings gracing > its banks are built using the same Dutch red brick building style as the 1660 > house, although many were built more recently. And they're cool and all. But > turn aside from them, walk a few feet to the actual canal itself and look > around, and what you find yourself in is a world of Light On Water. > > The water in the canal is not static. It's not a passive watcher of this > whole scene. It's more of an active participant, taking the light reflected > from the street lights and the house lights and the moon and the occasional > (it's the Netherlands) star, and reflecting them on, cooler than they were > when they arrived. > > It's almost as if the water in the canal is an artist, taking the incoming > light and then bouncing it off of its everchanging surface and reflecting it > onward kinda bent, and thus more interesting. A streetlight seen directly is > all solid and all...kinda boring. But look at the reflection of the > streetlight in the Herengracht and you see this pulsating, everchanging > globule of light, with no fixed boundaries and no particular need to adapt > itself to them. > > It's a cool effect. I kinda like it. > > > [https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/598589_530703030287168_411824051_n.jpg] >