Mid-City Wilderness

Returning from church I am amazed to cross one of Vienna's busiest shopping streets, Mariahilfestrasse, in near-quiet! The street has been blocked off for a marathon and it feels like a new place; cars are bannished and the street is left to the human beings, as if all the pets got loose at once!  I walk through the scene to continue to my apartment, but my body draws me back and I spend an hour walking down the normally dangerous traffic lane, following its gentle beckoning curve and listening intently.  The sounds are like that of nature, only this is the sound that people make.

The whole street is inviting.  The world is suddenly a gentle place.  There are no motors, only footsteps, soft voices, childern's cries echoing off the buildings and the tender sounds of the occasional runner's breathing.  I notice things that have never caught my attention.  The people all seem like my neighbors.   It is like listening to the pulse through a stethoscope, when all other sounds are blocked.  These are the sounds of the city lifeblood.   My body's suddenly at home.