The saying goes,
"Every man should spend thirty minutes with nature each day."
It was an interesting way to wake up to a new year. I woke up at about 7am on January 1st, 2021 feeling cold. I reached for my phone to check the thermostat. Dead. After a deep millennial sigh I begrudgingly got out of bed and walked to our thermostat in the hallway. Dead. Our electricity was out. The sun wasn't out but the brightness of outside seemed odd. Squinting through the blinds the image above is what I saw. I noticed over half a foot of snow had fallen over night.
I have read frequently that we are currently raising the most distracted generation of human beings in world history. Constant stimulation, bite size information, and attention spans rivaling that of small gnats. I work hard to control my screen time but in that moment I felt almost paralyzed. My normal routine, generally saturated with technology, wasn't possible. My coffee, email, social, news, dogs, etc. checkoff list was out the window. I couldn't even read my Bible plan and I was committed to starting out the year on a solid foot in that area. I mean seriously, it's not like people wrote the Bible down, printed it, and made it into a bound book.
Ironically, that metaphorical window to which I felt my plans had been throw through had a connection to the real world. As I peered out through the backyard, nature was calling me through the window. I almost wanted to double tap that pane. No Power. Stunning beauty outside. Let's get in those thirty minutes. First I got to go sledding with my son. An absolute blast that ended in a snowball fight just as it should. When we got home I went out with the dogs solo.
I love being in groups and being around others. I also long for alone time. I've always been somebody who ponders. Sometimes too much. As I followed the creek behind our house here's eight honest thoughts I had. If there's deep philosophical meaning for you here I promise it is NOT intentional.
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It's kind of romantic, snow. I was the first one that had walked in it. After my impact on it, it will never been the same.
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Snow is so majestic when you're looking at what's in front of you. But, when you look behind you, it's kind of a mess.
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There's a lot of yellow snow out there. Like a lot. And I didn't see tracks. How it got there I'm not quite sure. An enormous amount of yellow snow.
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Nature is stunning and it doesn't even have to try.
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The sound of creek water running is hypnotic. This is a video of what I recorded.
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I like the cold.
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Neighbors with messy yards are made new with the snow.
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Beagles follow their noses. Labs follow their hearts.
In closing there's a second part to that quote. Probably the more important part.
"Every man should spend thirty minutes with nature each day....unless he's busy.
Then he should spend an hour."
Cheers to a New Year and to the hours you put in.
thanks for reading. means the world to me!
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