5 30 am, very light but with some dark still left in it.
I heard an unusual thudding from behind the shack. I walked quietly (I thought) around the rock. Just in time to see a herd of around 20 Zebra shuffling smartly but closely past.
Not quietly enough.
They had seen me before I had even emerged. An already anxious initial scamper turned into a furious run which broke the stillness for a good few minutes. Dust flew, birds shot into the sky. Grass mixed with shards of marble filled the air - their incredible strength impressed even the very wind they were on.
What was in their mind?
Me. Something quite rightly to be feared and definitely not of their animal world-view. Their rituals are perfect and balanced. Unspoilt in the main. Wandering and scavenging endlessly within a vast desert of rock and parched grass. Although at the mercy of man these systems just about remain - and should be safeguarded at all cost. The only rules for them being the need for pro-creation, water and food.
Unfortunately they have also had to wise up and gain a healthy understanding of the human. They have unnatural restrictions placed on them by us - crazy and endless territorial fences and the occasional idiot in a missile 4x4.
The Clash Of The Systems.
Being at peace and remote anywhere in the world is a great privilege in these times. Alone with just our thoughts -away from the unrelenting rapid-fire attack of the daily daily of our effluent societies.
A privilege for many reasons.
Of course - and not least - the ability to stop and think about the hamster wheel from a healthy distance. If every routine could slow long enough, or return us to a more natural routine - a more sustainable system - imagine how different things could be. It ain't gonna happen. I can't think of that many folk who I could persuade to give much of anything up.
Time places demands on us that we simply accept. We are conditioned to just want and need more. We now have our millions of fences. Sadly we seem to have little choice in our shrinking Western bubble.
Interesting though, why watching a herd of Zebra, caused me to think differently.
Because it was such a unique sight I took my rightful perspective on my place in this natural system. I'm the idiot missile 4x4. However unintentionally charging around the place helping to erect the fences - adding more dopey rules. Imposing stupid regulations on something that naturally works very well. Sadly humans pro-created faster than Zebras and we will probably end up killing them all off by taking all their lands and by maintaining our demands for luggage and shoes.
Staring at this incredible landscape I think how tough it's going to be to recall the moment - aim to be that wee bit more intentional. In a few short days time I will be back in the midst of it all.
We've smothered, then killed, almost everything natural in our lives. We've done it out of sheer fear. We've done so by our silly rules and systems. Mostly ruinous to creativity - designed to control and minimize freedom and expression. And worse - stupidly/consciously implicated - we've allowed it to happen to us. We didn't run. We didn't cause the wind of dust and rock that we should have.
I'll try to recall my encounter with the Zebra's in the line at Terminal 5. I will certainly see them before they see me.
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