Sunshine and Nature !

A walk in nature provides you with lots of insight. When I was wandering around this morning, I saw enough to let me know, that just about anyone could have invented the wheel. Its everywhere in the natural world for us to see. Ants homes, the sun, the moon, oranges, some rocks, flower heads, and on and on. We mimic nature in so many ways, the colors we choose for our rooms, the paintings we hang, the wallpaper designs we hang in our homes etc. Yet so few people go out and enjoy the real thing on a regular basis. Malls are almost always busy, but I have never had to wait in line at the state park to get on the trail and to be honest its almost a surprise when someone passes by on a trail. There just are not many people out there.

In my little town, people walk. Its common to see 30 people pass by my house on any given day, just walking. We recently had a visitor at the house that lives in the city and she asked, "is everyone in this town health conscious or something, there are so many people walking by?"

For the most part there are a lot of people concerned about their health in this town, but there is also a love for being outside in nature. Its a spiritual thing, to connect with God in the great outdoors.

Even if you live in a big city, you can look up at the clouds or watch the cycle of the seasons show themselves on the trees. And most folk can drive to a bit more "uncivilized" area to just sit in the majesty of natures blessings. You see this is part of the simple living thing. It costs next to nothing to walk along a trail or sit on a rock and just observe. But it takes time to get acquainted with silence or the quiet sounds of nature. In that space of being, we have to be alone with our own thoughts. We tend to look inside and there is nothing to do but be real with yourself and that makes some folks a bit frightened.

My parents were not the hiking type. Not the sit on the floor and play with their kids type either. It was the way with that generation for most folks. But they loved car rides and we would take off to the wilds and drive past so many beautiful scenes. We would picnic on the roadside where you could smell the woods or an ocean breeze. I loved those moments of being out in nature so much more than the hours of driving, but even the driving gave me a glimpse of the beauty awaiting to be explored when I was grown.

Children flourish in an environment filled with hikes and long walks along the beach. It stretches their mind, they think about deep things, they ask profound questions and they learn that you can be amused without having a toy or gadget in their hands.

Our children would always bring home some bit of fallen bark, a rock, a stick or some such thing. A treasure. They could look at that item and remember the fun of running along a trail, or standing at some body of water, skimming stones with their daddy. Relationship building times. Not time along sitting at the computer or playing some game on their XBox. Emery and I can stroll along, talking about life. No man made distractions like television calling us apart. No on your own adventures. Time together, holding hands, laughing, enjoying the same thing.

When the children were little they would see their mommy and daddy holding hands and poke their little hands in between ours. The cost, just the price of getting into the state park, or maybe it was just along the beach and then the cost was nothing.

No hours in a mall, telling little ones you can't have that or buying things we didn't need. Just simple pleasure, making memories and growing up children that didn't need "stuff" to sooth their spirits as adults.

Heading off to paint the nursery for Melanie. The sunshine is wonderful today. Life is good.

So many blessings all around me.

Tuk Tuk is never far from me when I am outside, today he stood watching me from the grape vines !