Numinous

From the Merriam - Webster online dictionary:

nu·mi·nous adj \ˈnü-mə-nəs, ˈnyü-\

1 : supernatural, mysterious

2 : filled with a sense of the presence of divinity : holy

3 : appealing to the higher emotions or to the aesthetic sense : spiritual 

 

 

Despite my cynical approach to life and the world around us, there is a place in this cold heart of mine for numinousness. Take yesterday, for example. I felt the numinous all around me several times, while J, some friends and I were out on the archipelago island of Brännö, celebrating my birthday, among other things. The open sea can do that to me, fill me with awe and happiness. Summer afternoons can do that to me. The feel of grass under my bare feet or the drops of salt water on my skin. The blue, cloudless sky. The endlessness and vastness of it all.

Goat cheese with beetroot and honey

And, also, finally getting to empty my bladder crouching behind a bush right before my run this morning.

It doesn't matter if I've been to the loo before I left the house 10 minutes earlier. Drinking water in the morning goes right through my body and I can't ignore it. And when I finally get the chance to let it go, hiding 5 meters from a heavily-frequented path in the woods with my behind exposed for everyone to see, I look forward to old age and the ease of wearing diapers. Men, you have a good thing going there.

My knee doesn't like cycling, but, ignoring the fact, I cycled both to and from Saltholmen yesterday. That, in itself, was a nice experience. A cycle tour by the sea on a summer evening is hard to beat as far as experiences go. But the Knee was a bit grumpy this morning. No pain. Just a vague stiffness. I decided to try and take it easy. I don't need to run as fast every time I step out the door. So I jogged around the woods, concentrating more on technique and failing spectacularly at keeping a good posture. 

The woods? Also numinous.