Riding Storms

Hello, to all of you reading this...all none of you. I seriously doubt people read these things unless you get yourself a following of groupies, i may sulk for i have few. I'll treat this more as a diary from now on, no one wants groupies for diary entries. Well, my habit of burying my head is still going strong, lately i've found a classical piano version of The Doors song 'Riders On The Storm' which gives me goosebumps! Goosebumps the size of mountains, so i bury my head in these wonderful mountains of raised awareness...quite ironic really.
I actually got to ride in a storm for real tonight. I knew the weather forecast was predicting violent storms in my area and i wanted some excitement. So, i waited until the sky darkens and silence lays like a blanket over the land and then headed out to some rarely used roads in the car. Sweet Jesus was i in for a shock! It started as soon as i set off from my house, though just a little rain and a faint glimmer of lightening. I got about 2miles out from the city lights and i was on my own on the road. When i realised i hadn't passes a car in a while i knew i was far enough and at that exact moment a sheet of lightening lit the night sky, so bright i could see for miles! When you experience lightening like that out of the inner city its an immense sight, so powerful. I kept on driving, setting a slow pace to see more of the incredible show. However, i soon got a bit too close. The lightening was becoming more frequent and suddenly it flashed right in front my very eyes! I've never experienced this before, i was directly underneath the storm and the clouds were low, an eerie mist had settled in front of me on the road. My visibility was very limited due to this mist until suddenly the lightening flashed so bright in front of me that i had to shield my eyes and the wind screen wipers were struggling to work fast enough to allow me to see!!! I had a moment of fear, i was miles from anywhere, alone, and driving with terrible visibility, it was a very uneasy feeling and i started to speed up to get past the storm. It was as soon as i sped up that i had a moment of rare clarity.
As a kid if i had been put in that situation i would have loved it, the world was a giant playground where everything was to be experienced and explored. My childhood was such that i felt involved in everything around me and dived into unsettling moments with a naive courage. Sometimes naivity is needed in life, without it we become too calculating, too robotic and detatched from life itself. Luckily i realised this was becoming a problem for me whilst the storm was still raging all around me. I pulled the car over, sat back, replaced my uneasiness with wonder and enjoyed a remarkable and rare experience, i feel all the better for it.

As kids we have wishes that are carefree, spontaneous and we enjoy fearless lifes happily going from one adventure to the next with no stress inbetween. I think somewhere along the line 99.9% of humans lose this way of life. Fear is sold to us by corporations, newspapers, television, governments and word of mouth. Those in power feed off our fear and grow fat off it. Our childhood wishes and dreams and adventures become replaced by questions such as 'hmm, tight budget, whats next...decorate the bathroom, get a new boiler or save for a holiday.' The biggest adventure most get is a holiday to a place which is england but in a foreign country for 2weeks a year. I imagine most people spend 5weeks worrying over christmas and working that much harder for it, and 3weeks before their holiday just waiting for it to arrive and working. So, 10 weeks in the 52 that exist in a year are spent in a slightly altered way maybe...'but it's ok, we're going to a land of sun for 2weeks!!! YAY' they'll say...to which i'd reply 'there used to be sun here too, and extravegant views, but the advertising billboards block out both.' ...and whats on these advertising billboards? Cheap holiday deals. No thanks, this isn't for me at all.

Wishes of the young always take flight
Through a cloudless sky, ample and bright
But age and living will cloud the mind
The quest for more, which we’ll never find
when the day is no longer young
Advertising billboards will block the sun
And the scene is set, artificial night
Where no wind can give our wishes flight