Post 20 – Life at a Different Speed

Michaele AlexanderA Grand Discovery

Seeing as we are on holiday I thought I would quickly post a thought from the other day…

After I signed off Sunday morning we stepped out the front door into the swirling winter wonderland to cross country ski through our neighborhood, dogs in the lead giving me ample opportunity to further consider Michael’s audio of the day. The buggy and Ferrari analogy had left something akin to a grain of sand in an oyster in my head. So I penned this when we returned to the house:

Life at a Different Speed

Having driven on several occasions both a Ferrari (not my own) and a horse and buggy (also not my own) I honestly prefer life at the slower speed. I like the depth and breadth of scenery and that the wind touching my face comes from Gaia’s breath. The Ferrari feels exhilarating, but it is the kind of exhilaration I imagine a dog feels when it sticks its head out of the window of a car. Senses overloaded. Delighted, but overloaded. So much so that the only way to feel beyond it is more, and faster.
The buggy has a rhythm. Each gait and horse holds a different sensation altogether. Each step of the way unique. And at all of them one can smell the wild roses passing by. With the great feeling of power that emanates from behind the wheel and glass of a high speed roaring engine Life can come streaming in with the possibility of a sudden crash if one’s attention is diverted in any given moment. Sitting in the open air in a buggy with a comforting blanket on one’s lap is a cooperative endeavor with a conscious intuitive living being. The horse’s awareness linked with one’s own affording the ability to stop and regard a friendly neighbor because one is out breathing the same air.
So, yes, I prefer a horse and buggy. But then again, I think it may be time to contemplate moving up to a carriage with four-in-hand…
Addendum addressing non-horsey folk:
Buggies are a smaller and more personal conveyance than carriages which have the ability to carry more people, and, in this case four horses would be attached, driven “in hand” by one person lending quadruple the “horse power” (for when Life presents me with steeper obstacles). See (just for the sheer fun of it)
Wikipedia FEI World Cup Combined Driving: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_driving#FEI_World_Cup_Driving
and
FEI World Cup Driving:
https://www.fei.org/fei/events/world-cups/driving