The testimony the world gives us is of transience not of permanence.
I grew up in New Orleans on the west bank of the Mississippi which would be something like the south bank of the Thames. When I was young the river had not been bridged at the city; it was too wide and deep and swift for the engineering of the day. The were many ferries to cross the river, and I lived near the landing for the one that crossed to Canal Street, the most important shopping area of the city. So there came a point in our lives when Mother allowed my sister and I to go 'across the river' to shop along Canal Street. The stores we visited were mostly 'dime stores' of which there were several. So this is part of my experience of walking as a child – a short walk to the ferry, crossing the mile wide river on the boat, traversing the multitude of railroad tracks on the 'viaduct', walking up the wide boulevard with street cars in the 'neutral ground', searching through the stores for whatever trinkets we coveted, buying a hotdog and coke at a lunch counter on the way home and returning with our treasures.
The only transcendence in these experiences was that of taking a few steps on our own beyond the protected envelope of our neighborhood. We were left with dim memories of a matrix of space and time which is long lost.
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