Day 15 of 365 - Getting Reacquainted With Nature

At present my husband and I are on a little getaway to cottage country, thanks to the hospitality of our niece and nephew who have a couple of cottages they normally rent through Airbnb.  We were hoping to catch the peak of fall colors but have missed most of it probably a week or so too late.  Nonetheless, we still saw some lovely leaf colors on our drive to get here.

This morning we went to a nearby regional park for a hike.  It's been a long time since I hiked on an actual trail in nature over rugged surfaces of granite and large tree roots where you need to keep your eye on the ground or risk tripping or losing your footing.

We clambered over large outcroppings of granite and walked between deciduous and pine trees over needle coated ground while listening to the sounds of the nearby river current moving water downstream.  Most of the wildlife was pretty quiet in midmorning.  We only heard a couple of birds calling.

The weather is sunny and briskly cool today, perfect for hiking.  It was quite refreshing and also felt like good exercise.

When I was a kid, our housed backed onto a ravine.  We would clamber down a narrow path into that ravine and cross through the woods into a meadow of long grasses and go on whatever childhood adventures we had dreamed up that day.  It was usually a gaggle of neighborhood kids and we always found our way home, mostly unharmed.

Nowadays, for the most part we rely on groomed or paved walking or biking trails unless we make a special trip like this one.  To be honest, I don't walk a lot near home unless I am walking to do errands.  The city I live in has many trees, parks and walking trails but I don't spend a lot of time outside.

Perhaps it is partly due to getting most of my exercise by attending various classes.  But, I realize from this hike today that I am missing out on just appreciating the nature around me.  Mind you, it's quite a lot different here than anywhere in my home city.  It's so much quieter. And, at night you can see so many more stars than in the city.

So this is a little wake up call of sorts.  My ongoing health and vitality could probably get a boost from incorporating more time in nature.  It's something to ponder for sure.

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