Some sweet words for Slow

Since I am a recent immigrant to the Rocky Mountain front range, I am still struck with awe every time I walk out of my apartment and see those glorious homages to some ancient geological god long forgotten. (Not even lame hyperbole can do the Rockies justice!).
But I have more than once been struck with the disconcerting idea that I could very well become accustomed and unimpressed by the Rockies by moving in with them. What if I get restless and pine for a canyon? An ocean?
I have decided that if this scenario does happen, it will not be because I simply see mountains each day for an extended period, it will be because I have joined the hurried masses to rush to The Next Appointment on the day's Agenda. In times past, cultures revered their surroundings and landmarks as supernatural and deserved of Legends spoken of them in many times and places. They had plenty of time to become accustomed to their surroundings.
Instead, I believe Awe-complacency is brought on by that ever seductive Fast. Must get to work Fast to make money for food. Must eat Fast to make time for fun. Must have fun Fast to make room for lounging. Must lounge Fast to get to work on time. Or some other permutation thought of Fast.
Whoever said "Stop and smell the roses" was a sage. A sage who was in too much of a hurry to come up with more than 5 words.
"If music be the food of love, play on." Shakespeare came from a time when eating did not occur within the radio friendly time constraints of a booty shaking pop song. In these times, with all the glories of technology and industrialized food, humans actually generally have the least diverse diet in human history. Eating, just about the most fundamental and universal experience within any species, has been reduced to a nuisance that can be solved a few times daily with Fast Food laced with variations of subsidized commodities engineered to trick your mind into feeling satisfied.
In our current situation, I try to branch out and try new items in the produce section and cook with my wife on a regular basis. This is quite enjoyable. However, to truly create a Slow eating culture, we will have to localize and diversify agriculture. Gone are the days when covering entire states with corn makes any sense whatsoever for a host of problems stemming from Fast. Spreading small scale organic gardens are reliant upon planting many species to keep away bugs and keep the soil rich in nutrients. Planting small scale diverse gardens also necessitate that larger and larger percentages of the populace are spending more Slow time in gardens. Slow time increases knowledge, knowledge increases love for the earth, love for the earth increases love for life, and so on.
Slow time is not only good for our appreciation of geology and soil, it's good for everything. I have a terrible palate, but the act of drinking a good glass of wine or pint of well crafted ale can be quite pleasurable when Slow. The best music is that special Slow music that may spend 10 minutes exploring one simple theme. No Fast song in the world can take your mind/spirit/soul to another place (and I do not mean tempo). Even Slow breathing can do wonders for a person's mood or body temperature.
To get to the point, a Fast lifestyle can easily lead to a dull life. A life void of appreciation or worth. A life where mountains are ignored. A life within which you can name athletes and singers you've never met, but are unable to name plants and landmarks you see everyday.
The greatest sage I can think of on the subject may have a lot of fast quotes, but they were all written Slow: Kurt Vonnegut. He simply wished us all to notice when life is nice, slow down, and say, "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is."
Enough pontificating! I need to go enjoy my book for a while :)
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