A Walk In The Park
A walk in the park is one of life’s simple pleasures.
What is your pastime?
Cooking? Cleaning? Gardening? Watching videos online? Dancing? Writing? Photography? A walk in the park?
It was a usual morning. My husband dropped me off at a park near his chiropractic clinic. He gets his joints adjusted, while I do the same with my mind in the park.
“Don’t forget to take your water bottle”, he said. I kept my bottle in one hand, and in the other, I held my Kindle, and off I headed to the park.
I sat on one of the benches to dive into my new ebook, before starting my walk. It had been on my to-read list for quite some time now.
“This is a good break. You can do so much stuff while being there.”
“How are you utilizing your break? You won’t get this much free time again in life.”
“Learn something new.”
“Work on your YouTube Channel”
“Go for dance classes”
“Do online certifications. There are plenty.”
“Join our mommy’s group”
“Have a baby, if you’re getting bored”
“Become a Disney princess”
“Get a plastic surgery done and become invsible.”
Okay, I made up the last two.
“Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”― Paulo Coelho.
Out of all the above-unsolicited advice from people, I took up the one that my heart gave- “Read the books on your to-read list”
As I placed my Kindle on the bench and made myself comfortable, I felt a hand brush past mine. I jolted with terror. Normally, even when the blinds sway because of the wind, I wake up my husband from sleep. But he was a few miles away, and I was a full grown-up adult to call the strangers in the park for help. Besides, what would I say to them? That I feel something supernatural?
“You’re on foreign land. Don’t call upon yourself unnecessary trouble or attention,” warned my husband once.
So I ignored it and opened my Kindle to start reading. Normally I try to breathe in the smell of the raw pages of a book, that will age and wilt with each reading, and then I will savor its fruits of wisdom.
“But how do you delight in an ebook?”
I would have taken it as a fleeting thought in my mind if only the silence wouldn’t have echoed it into my ears.
“But how do you delight in an ebook?”
Asked the voice again. And I picked up the bottle, ready to break into a sprint.
“I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.”
“Wuthering Heights. But people don’t acknowledge the dead in reality, as much as the narrator in this book. I’m not a ghost. Well, technically I am, but not a ‘ghostly ghost’, you see. Larry Sabath, in whose memory you were about to plunge into the most delightful pleasures of life- A good book and a good walk.”
“Larry Sabath?” and I turned and finally read the name on the bench that I was sitting on.
‘IN MEMORY OF LARRY SABATH
MARCH 1943- DECEMBER 2003
A WALK IN THE PARK IS ONE OF LIFE’S SIMPLE PLEASURES’
This was engraved on the bench. I was scared to death, I assure you. But, the last line hit me hard. What a simple yet beautiful thought! Unfortunate are those who do not walk, they are missing on one of life’s simple pleasures.
“And the simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.”- Paulo Coelho
I was mesmerized with Larry Sabath, his knowledge, for he quoted the last paragraph of Wuthering Heights(the book I was about to read) most accurately, every i dotted and every t crossed, and his interest in the simple pleasures of life- a good book and a good walk.
“He loves you like Heathcliff loved Cathy, and as my wife loved me”, said the ghost.
“Who?”, I asked, half dead and half curious.
“Your husband!”, the ghost replied.
“Excuse me? Is it not scary enough that I’m talking to a ghost that the ghost also knows about my personal details?”, I freaked out.
“‘Don’t forget to take your water bottle’- there are a million different ways to say I love you. Jane always reminded me to get some rest”, he said.
“Listen, Larry, or whoever you are, you are a ghost and I am a human and I hear you and this is a bit scary”, I confessed.
“You’re okay smiling and waving at strangers, but talking to a man scares you.”, he retorted.
“A dead man Larry!”, I whispered, trying not to come in the public eye.
“And so are all those strangers! As dead as one can be, heads submerged in their mobile phone like it is nourishing them in some way. It is a crime to be in a park and not look and stroll around amidst nature. Like it is a crime to read a digital book. Well, that technically makes you dead too. Books are supposed to be felt, touched, smelled, and lived. Books are supposed to make you feel alive!”, murmured Larry.
“This is more convenient and economical. I like digital books”, I lied. I was just trying to compensate for the huge bucks that I had utterly wasted on my Kindle. Oh, I missed hardcovers and paperbacks.
“I could see that in your excitement when you picked it up”, mocked Larry.
“And who are you? Dickens or Donne? Or a descendant of one?”, I asked, trying hard to hide my annoyance. He was a ghost after all.
“None! Just an avid and lonely reader, wanting to talk to another”, he said.
“What makes you think I’m lonely?”, I enquired.
“The fact that on a splendid Sunday morning in the park, you are looking for a companion in a book”, he answered.
I smiled. He had a point.
“Let’s walk and talk over this one. It’s one of my favorites”, Larry offered.
And I don’t remember for how long we walked and talked, or when our discussion moved beyond Wuthering Heights. We talked of classics, drama, poetry, fiction, and every possible genre close to our hearts. The people in the park that day would have found me as mad as a hatter. But who cares? If only they were readers they would have known that all the best people are!
