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Sunday, October 18, 2015

Quiet time in nature



There are two things I've craved all my life: the natural world and solitude.

Early on in my marriage my lovely wife figured out I actually needed those two things to keep my head on straight. Occasionally I'd get a gentle reminder.

“Isn't it time for you to disappear into the woods for a few days?” she'd say.

Then I'd pack a small pack and wander somewhere off the beaten path. When I got back I was much easier to live with. There's nothing like being alone in the woods or on the water for having a good think. Major life changes have been made once I've had some time alone to ponder things. Too few people live unexamined lives.

Once we moved up the lake I didn't need to actually disappear quite as often. Living surrounded by nature and with few neighbors I got a lot of the peace and quiet I needed.

Here in Florida it's a bit different. Fortunately, my dad's retirement park made the wise decision to build around the trees rather than cut them all down. There's a pond on the property with fish, turtles, birds and event the occasional alligator. Lately a falcon has been hanging around. There are still a lot more people around than what I am used to. My lovely wife and I have been able to get away for a few hours now and then. We've gone to the ocean to absorb some of that sea goodness. It helps.

I'm not an antisocial person. I like people well enough and enjoy meeting new ones. Everybody has a story to tell. Some people need to get away from everything now then, and I'm one of those people. Beats the heck out of medication and head headshrinkers.

-Sixbears

8 comments:

  1. We all need to spend time GONE FISHING and forget to take bait. It keeps a sane man sane. The crazy ones don't like fish ,water clean air or solitude.

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    1. I remember one guy who was all worried about her husband going away to hunting camp. She was afraid he'd get shot. He took his rifle out of the car, handed it to her, then went to camp.

      Disconnecting from the real is one sure way for me to go nuts.

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  2. I see folks who are downright frightened at solitude. They're usually sort of scary.

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    1. It's a terrible thing to be uncomfortable in your own head.

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  3. Have to see the mountains and don't need to be around a lot of people. Hubby is just the opposite. He loves to talk!

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  4. My girlfriend always says, "you don't like people!" I always respond, "baby, I like people, I just don't like millions of them around everytime I go somewhere." Here in socal it sometimes seems that chances for solitude are nonexistent, you can find it but you may have to look hard. Sometimes I drive a hundred miles to hike down a desert canyon and sit on a gnarly root under the giant "Hangman Tree," a huge old cottonwood sitting right at the dogleg of the trail under looming canyon walls above.

    I have never seen another soul there.

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    1. My youngest daughter moved to the San Fran area. It would be drive me nuts to live there.

      -maybe on a boat in the harbor, where I could sail off alone now and then.

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