Nature

I'm not a person who typically enjoys nature. I wish I did, because there are some people who thrive in the great outdoors, but I tend to be more of a hothouse plant (to quote a friend of mine). I like to be comfortable, not too hot and not too cold, but once in awhile, I spend a few hours in the open air, and I revel in the sensory experience of beauty all around me.

Yesterday was one of those days. We are in Leavenworth, WA for a week, staying at one of our timeshares. Leavenworth is a sweet Bavarian town, not the military prison in Kansas like most people thought when we mentioned our vacation destination, and every building looks like it belongs on a postcard of Germany. It was one of those days where the wind blows with a cooling breeze, the sun is hot on your face but ducks behind the clouds every few minutes for a reprieve from the warmth, and the sky is so blue that it hurts your eyes to really look at it.

In other words, it was gorgeous. A day where you felt inspired just to look around. I felt the joy of being alive, deep in my bones, and knew I wouldn't soon forget all that I was experiencing around me. The sound of the river flowing around the rocks, the live music in the town square, and the glorious flavour of my Cold Stone Creamery Mud Pie Mojo ice cream.

I love it when my kids are caught up in the spirit of adventure when we explore a new place. They wanted to go here and there and see everything they could in the time we had. Their excitement fed all of us and gave us new eyes to see what was surrounding us. I don't want to ever lose that sense of anticipation that something wonderful is just around the corner. I don't want to be complacent and thoroughly middle-aged in the way I look at the world. I want to see the beauty and the fun in what I'm doing, but it takes some effort to cultivate that as a world view.

I need to work on my approach to nature; to understand that it feeds my soul in a way that fluorescent lighting and air conditioning simply cannot replicate. I love our timeshare locations because they provide us with an opportunity to stay in comfort, swim in the beautiful pools, and enjoy a variety of scenic locations in different seasons of the year. I am thrilled that my kids will grow up with these travel memories, and I enjoy these experiences with them, for long after they have grown up and moved away, we will have these memories to keep us warm.