Crosspost - Observation Progression
It’s interesting to me, the progression of observation - what things I noticed and looked at at first and what I’m now noticing after going past the same places over and over again.
My first couple times on my metro route to and from my apartment, I wasn’t concerned with the shops or buildings, I was solely watching the street signs - I wanted to make sure I was getting off at the right stop. Sensible and practical. After a while, I was looking for patterns, landmarks I could use so that I could stop trying to read street signs, especially in the dark.
That turned into actually noticing what stores were where. How far are they from me? Oh, there’s a hair salon. Here’s a collection of Chinese restaurants, that looks like an interesting coffee shop, that place sells doughnuts? There’s a park that looks like a nice place to chill and enjoy the sun. So on and so forth. I even found myself deliberately sitting on different sides of the metro so that I could make sure to discover what was on the other side of the road.
I seem to have progresses to the next stage. Earlier this week I found myself noticing signs around various stops, giving the names of the area and of the stop, and I started making connections about the why and how if the neighborhood names (west portal is around the western end - or portal - of a tunnel the metro goes through.) what’s more, this morning I found myself less interested in the stores, themselves, and more interested in the windows of the apartments above them. Which ones have signs? That guy has a huge window in his bedroom, that must be nice. Oh look, a cat! (Who saw that coming?) further more, I started noticing other details, like the local store’s stand up sign on a street corner telling what classes they were offering and when. It’s rather interesting observing my own transition.
Also: funny how you don’t notice the smell of pee at the subway entrances until you use them every day. And I’ve decided I love how mysterious fog makes everything look. I end up feeling like I’m in a movie, especially when I can see it floating by on an otherwise clear day.