I have fallen into the habit of reading articles on my phone while I walk in the forest or listening to music when I jog. I head outdoors first thing in the morning because the dog needs walking but I’ve always found it to be a pleasant way to kick off my day. It has rarely felt to me as if it were a chore despite it being something of a necessity because I choose to look at it differently.
However I’m not watching where I’m walking lately and the idea of this morning walk being a nice way to welcome in a new day is slipping into habit and something I just need to do. In other words it is slipping into the realm of chores no more pleasant than scrubbing the tub.
What brought about this realization was on my walk back down the forest path this morning when I finally looked up. Less than a dozen feet off the path stood a doe and her fawn, they were grazing contentedly on the grass in a manner which suggested they had most likely been there awhile. Probably they had been there when I passed the first time heading up the path and I simply hadn’t seen them.
I do often speak negatively about the local deer population as they can be frustrating to live near. They do after all manage to do some pretty significant damage to my gardens each year. It is awfully irksome to see your garden in full bloom one day only to find nothing but stems the next. Despite that though I still find them to be beautiful animals to see and I’m always enchanted by the sight of a buck or a fawn.
I haven’t been seeing them though I’ve been too distracted looking down to look up and it makes me wonder how many other creatures I’ve missed recently. I don’t recall what the last bird I saw was, if the owl which sometimes perches along the path has been there, if the butterfly population is still going strong or if there are as many 4 leaf clovers as last year.
I’m missing out on welcoming in my day surrounded by nature at its finest and it’s time to leave the distractions at home and remember to look up again.
