Back into nature

Nature has always been my healing place.

Just before my surgery (7/12/16), my husband and I took a quick overnight trip to a nearby lake that we love. It’s remote, quiet, beautiful. We spent some time with the dogs on the beach. It helped me reduce the anxiety I felt about the surgery. It was calming and grounding.

After surgery, I spent a month more or less at home. If I went out, it was to the grocery store or eventually to my office. I don’t think I’ve spent a month away from nature in my adult life! I just didn’t have the energy to get out there, and my belly hurt.

I finally got out this weekend, and it was wonderful! It was a short, easy trip with my husband and puppy. We picked up bagels and coffee and drove about 20-30 minutes out of town into the mountains. We took a narrow road up one of my favorite nearby streams. There are large cedar trees and lots of beautiful green plants.

We found a nice spot along the creek where we could park and enjoy our bagels. We sat under the trees, listening to the sounds of the stream trickling through the rocks and logs, listening to the sounds of insects in the air, the breeze through the branches. We walked a little bit, but not far. I’m still healing and not able to do a lot of walking, but we walked a little and it felt amazing and peaceful.

Being out there, I felt hopeful for continued healing and the ability to get out more and farther. A camping trip needs to be in my future. I need days next to a river, my feet on a trail, my face in the sun on a lovely beach to help move this trauma of grief, sickness, and surgery out of my mind and body.

So happy to be out again.

Trees