Reflections of perfection.

"You live in a beautiful faerieland.

Outside my window, I see a 60year-old exhibitionist. Or the underchassis of my van when I park it in front of the window so as not to have to look at the naked guy. Sky? What is sky?

Trees?

Although, I am moving to a move scenic part of town. Next to a nature trail... and a vacuum factory. But you can't have it all. Except for you. And your nature."

-Raven

Fairly much everything she says is insightful, whether it may appear to even make sense on the surface or not. She is an inexhaustible source of inspiration, and a simple comment she leaves in my Livejournal can provoke me to dwell upon it for days.

And this one did. It encouraged me to start thinking and realising that very few have the opportunity to experience what I take for granted. Lovely views of a relatively clean ocean everyday. Deep green rainforest surrounding me everywhere, practically creeping up my apartment walls. Skies of the deepest blue, high amounts of rainfall, clean, fresh air.

An afternoon dip in a nice cool stream beneath a surging waterfall. A sky full of brilliant stars upon which to gaze. Places within walking distance to easily escape to and be all alone; places so secluded I could howl at the top of my lungs and no one would hear. A shirtless wander along the remote sea cliffs in mid-December.

During this early morning's moonlit wander, I was reminded of that comment. This is a faerieland. The truthfulness of it hit me when I recognised just how perfect everything was. I mean, flawless.

I was strolling down a narrow paved backroad through some sloping fields of high grass and dense trees, running parallel to the coast. The breeze was light, enough to keep one perfectly cool and comfortable, but not even enough to muss one's hair. It rolled off the mountains with a very satisfying coolness. Wind chill factor approximately 65° fahrenheit. It felt unlike most continental breezes, and I cannot hope to explicate why. The air on a Pacific island just feels different. Wildly so.

Everything was damp from frequent heavy rains. The air was heavy with moisture and the smell of rain, and the ground was soaked. The air felt so remarkably cozy, so familiar and tropical. The sweet fragrance of wild tropical flowers could be sensed periodically, but mostly, I smelled wet grass, trees, pavement, and of course, the nearby sea.

Contrasts are abundant. I looked out over the ocean and saw an endless horizon featuring mostly clear skies of a gorgeous royal blue, gradually darkening as I looked up. As I turned around to face upslope, I could see only the very verdant beginnings of a seemingly endless journey to a mountain towering almost two miles above sea level. Above these forestlands hovered wicked-looking rainclouds of the darkest shades, visibly gushing torrential showers against the moonlit backdrop as if draining a fresh wound. The upper tips of each of these bulging, towering clouds were highlighted by the near-full moon, the result being gorgeous celestial architecture. Castles in the sky of a breathtaking array of tones and textures. Tropical clouds. The kind you dream of floating on and riding up into heaven.

The greenness of everything could be detected even in the monochromatic featuring of the moonlight. I had seen it so many times before, and I was still completely dazzled. Such natural perfection above all else may be enough to get me to accept the possibility of an intelligent creator. Were these islands of impeccable gorgeousness created by chance? Could the natural conditions for living comfortably be so flawless by chance? A few specks in the middle of the Pacific Ocean could just as easily not exist. I could just as easily be living in New Jersey. Many more people live in New Jersey. Why am I here, in this place? This faerieland? Why was I even giving serious consideration to leaving anytime soon?

Amazingly, it still drives people away. The frogs are too noisy. The rain is too frequent. The career opportunities are too few. The price of food and real estate is too high. The first two I consider to be perks rather than turn-offs, and the latter two I consider worth fessing up for and dealing with. I am heavily nature-oriented, and the nature here is perfect. I belong here, it seems.

What did I discover tonight? A wastewater treatment plant. Naturally, I jumped the chain link fence and explored. The water in the pumped pools looked positively vomitrocious, but admittedly, it only smelled peculiar. Not bad, but not particularly pleasant either. Just a rather pungent mix of chemicals. I wasn't about to take a swim, especially after passing the section where muddy sludge water was burping up out of a large tank in big smelly bubbles. I didn't care to speculate on exactly where this "treated" water was entering the sea, either.

This outdoor escape came some time after completing a role play that ran over eight hours long. I simply got drawn into it, and did not feel compelled nor obligated to do much else on a bright sunny Monday. "Your paladin takes 224 damage from my level 69 premium sword. I pwnd u. I loloolololol'd. Get off my MUD." **Pushes up coke bottle glasses and snorts** No, I kid.

Doomed to be nocturnal, a creature of the night... yeah, I wish. I'm working on it, though! Sunlight is still incredibly overrated, but can be very pleasant when the conditions are right. Moonlight, on the other paw, is unconditionally exquisite.