Transition is difficult. We all know it, we all go through it, but it doesn’t make it feel any less painful. As the days shorten, the weather cools, and animals burrow in their nests, I am feeling both a pull to comfort by the fire, and the itch to get out while I still can, along with the sorrow that comes with loosing sunshine.
When it is cold like this, I can’t wait to get outside and feel the crispness of the air. Then when I am out, I can’t wait to get back inside to warm up by the cozy fire.
But November has so far offered a few nice trail outings. To celebrate a change in leadership, my partner and I visited Bodega Bay and did a lovely 6 mile from the ocean to the redwood forest and back again.
We tooled around Jenner in our trusty van, Betsy, watched a stellar sunset, and gave thanks for a new day filled with more hope for this country than we have felt for quite a while.
Nature is so healing when we are distressed, and such a place of celebration as well, a source of uplifting and spiritual or mental renewal. It had felt like too long since I had visited the ocean, and being there after all the stress and uncertainty of the election felt like serendipity.
The following weekend, I finally got out for a good 20 mile trail loop on the Robbie trail and the Western States Trail. The American River basin in fall is spectacular, with perfect cool temperatures, vibrant colors, and tough trails to help get a good sweat going.
I took the run slow, enjoyed the scenery and the quiet time in nature, and returned home clear headed and with a peace of mind I hadn’t felt in quite a while. Being a nurse during COVID, along with graduate school and trying to balance work and family life, being bombarded by depressing news, all while being extremely careful about my actions to prevent the spread of the virus, all of this has been exhausting: emotionally, physically and spiritually. I am grateful though, for mother nature’s resiliency, for her forgiveness and welcoming embrace when I hit the trails and immerse myself in her beauty.
Flights of a hummingbird 