A Walk along the River

San Antonio River Walk

I took a walk along the river in order to de-clutter my mind.

It being August, the murky water provided mild respite from the inferno of summer. I spent a few days last week exploring its paths after attending sessions at a professional conference.

Occasionally, I'd stop and sketch a heron or sit in a cafe and sip a margarita. It felt good to walk among tourists for a change-- these good-natured fun seekers, spending their time and money solely on entertainment with the purpose of forgetting their other lives. It's easy to slip in with them.

Once I bumbled into a shopping mall, all saccharin colors and commerce. I weaved through the crowd and longed for the quiet of the out of the way nooks, the bench no one else wanted beyond the reach of the tour boats or the dark panels of an old bar playing Hank Williams.

It felt good not to think about daily routines and deadlines or collecting data for this or that report. Instead, I pondered art, or writing, or nothing whatsoever. What "now" shall I live? What adventure lies around the bend?

"The Basted Turkey" (c) 2015 David Borden

Back in the cool of my hotel with its cable TV and view of the pool, I watched the bathers frolic. The pool, foggy with sunscreen seemed choked with humanity. Children splashing, couples noodling, some people half beached with cans of beer. I sketched one man who'd hiked up his shorts to reduce his tan line. He baked until he glistened like a basted turkey.

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