To Touch Nature

I am not a tree-hugger.

In fact, I love the crackle and spark of wood catching fire at the end of a day in the woods.  The flames dancing and gyrating in some dance that only it knows the steps to.

But I digress.

My point is that I write this to get back to two things I truly love.  One, is taking my thoughts and putting them down in some type of organized fashion.  The second is getting back in touch with the wind, the stars, the mountains and the trees.

When I go on a hike - almost every hike - I find that I have to take just a moment to put my hand on a tree.  Feel the calloused bark that has weathered time and circumstance to still protect the sinew that runs underneath.  Take a green leaf in my hand and see the veins that take water throughout.  Feel the ridges that run it's green skin.

When I'm out there I'm alive.  Last night I went back to the top of Stone Mountain, the place I can get to the easiest to breathe.  Jenelle and I just did up and down, but it was still a few moments to realize that I'm just a small part of this world.  That I'm among many others who open their eyes fully in the presence of that large, granite structure.  Not a building made by man, but a physical eruption on the landscape that was crafted through the works of a higher being.

Never do I want to take for granted the ability to move one leg in front of the other and traverse the trail ahead.  I've spent times when I was injured and just plain miserable.  On Monday night I was reminded of the frailty of our bodies when I twisted my ankle at the beginning of a hike.  I didn't go down or put myself in the misery that I've felt at past times of injury, but I did slow (just a little) and felt each step with a little more awareness of the ground beneath and each uneven spot came with a slight wince and a focus on NOT DOING IT AGAIN!

I'm healthy.  For the first time in my life I feel that my body, my heart and my mind are in accord.  I'm not always as strong as I want to be, but I'm also never as weak as I thought I once was.  My heart, an issue last year right around this time, is stronger too.  It still has times when it beats just a little too fast, but I'm finding that sometimes that's just a reminder that I'm human and still going to have to push.  My mind is level.  A place I once thought was impossible to find.  I struggle at times, but who doesn't.

So I go out into the woods.  I seek the fresh air.  Hell, I even soak up the humidity that IS Summer in the South!

Just those moments to touch Nature help me commune with my spirit.  To reach inside and grab hold of something larger than I will ever be.  So if it's taking a walk, going on a bike ride, trekking through the North Georgia mountains, or even just going outside and seeing the color that is so present in all that grows around us - touch it... you might find that the breathe that you take will be fuller and open to whole new worlds of adventure.