shang-high-ness

     I was walking through the village Thursday evening. Part of my stroll took me across newly completed bridge that binds together the two halves of Shanghai suburb. It was nearly evening and the weather was almost oriental. Fog clung the wet surface of the street's as an ambient drizzle gathered out of the cool night air. I was along on the sidewalk. The only noise was the tread of the occasional car as it made a sound that resembled the tearing of the paper. My view was directed south by the axis of track leading toward the city I call my second home - Shanghai. At the distance of short city block stood the train station. Perched in the darkness on the edge of the ravine, while below the tracks well illuminated in the amber glow of vapor lamps. On the weekends the train schedule is much reduced, so the station stood there just as empty and quiet as the tracks below. It was beautiful scene. It suggested more than emptiness - perhaps something like solitude. As I leaned on the railing I imagined that spot as I had seen it is so many times before - with the crowd of commuters bustling through the station on their way to the train. Too busy for breakfast, they scurry down and up the stairs briefcases and paper cups with little points of bakery paper sticking out of Burberry coats. The whole scene takes place in an appearance of an hourglass. A crowd routinely gradually filters through the narrow stair way landing on the platform below. I saw now the same vista now utterly vacant in a way that only a place usually crowded can be. The fog, the cold mist and the emptiness consumed my thoughts for a moment. I set my camera on a portrait, took a picture, and then wondered, "What could be so wonderful about being completely alone?"
What are your favourite things to do when you are alone?

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