Weekly Plunder: Week 14 - Tornados

The weather has been apocalyptic lately.

I woke up Friday morning to a St. Louis that was blanketed by an opaque fog that rendered the city grey and misty.

Tornados and severe storms swarmed the city later that night. Wind ripped sheets of rain sideways in steady violent pulses.

That night I dreamed myself in a small Italian village based in a mountain pass, perhaps the Basilicata. Winding marble stairways sheened under the sun and wove upward through the village along the mountain pass’s edge. The village had layers of shops and restaurants, all connected by these marble stairwells.

I climbed up the main stairwell, hoping to reach the top, stopping occasionally to view people eating gelato or sipping wine. Why couldn’t I stop and join them?

Upward still I climbed, the village narrowing as elevation rose. But each time I thought I reached the top I’d look up to see another level of the village above me. There was no end in sight, and it seemed the climb upward would last forever. Why was I climbing? I had to have the best view, I told myself.

It seems a fitting metaphor for life. I’m glad I remember that dream.

What I’m Watching: Hellbound on Netflix. A pretty weird and thought provoking Korean show that explores religion, belief, and societal control.

What I’m Reading: From Paycheck to Purpose by Ken Coleman. As I transition away from a lifestyle driven by paychecks, I find it worthwhile to have some guidance from those who walked a similar path in the past.

What I’m Listening to: “Monochrome” by Between the Buried and Me. This is an interesting song without a genre and I suspect it will mean something different to everyone, so I won’t reveal what it means to me.

What I’m Doing: I start physical therapy next week. The ankle is getting there. I jumped for the first time in four months this week, and I successfully completed a one minute run. I’m happy that I ran again before 2021 closed its window forever.

What I’m thinking: I’m thinking about that dream and the “chase to the top”. Is the pursuit worthwhile when knowing full-well that the chase has no end? Or it it better to stop, take a seat, and have some gelato in that quaint little Italian village?