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Spontaneous Overflow Reflecting in Tranquility

The Official Blog of Michael Schoenhofer, Executive Director

Thoughts by Myself #17 - A Walk in the Woods

Love and Live in this Moment.

This afternoon was so lovely and sunny that I took a walk in Hermon Woods on my own. It is so different when you are alone in the woods because I am not tempted to have a big conversation - there isn't anyone to talk to. So as I walked, I noticed stuff. A red-headed woodpecker seemed to follow me on my walk, flitting back and forth in the top branches of the trees. Later I discovered that there were two woodpeckers. Then I watched a Nuthatch creeping along the trunks of a tree.

The floor of the woods was filling up with color. Little flowers of white, purple, and yellow were popping up everywhere. Small plants that looked like miniature umbrellas were emerging too. Everywhere I looked, it seemed like the woods were waking up from the long winter sleep.

As I walked along, I noticed sounds, the calls of different birds, the wind rustling the branches of the trees. A ranger walked by, and I thanked him for keeping the park open and safe. There weren't many people out today, and I had the park to myself except for a young couple moseying along the path and another older guy, alone like me.

I slowed down the pace, and I stopped a few times to take some pictures of the flowers emerging in all their colors. Today they'll be blooming, and then tomorrow they will be gone. That's the way it is in the woods, it is always changing, and you’ll miss it if you don’t look. Like a sunset or sunrise, the colors change so quickly or like a rainbow after a storm, here one moment, gone the next.

Life is Constantly Changing

When I try to cling to the colors of the sunset or the sounds I hear from the birds, I get disappointed because I don't get to keep them or put them on a shelf to collect. The memories, yes. A few pictures if I think to stop long enough to take a picture, yes. But otherwise, it is a moment to moment experience.

The fun of it is wonder and curiosity. I wonder what is happening in the woods today. That keeps me excited, watching the change happen. It is one thing I can always count on—everything is changing.

It’s all I can do right now. Focus on this moment because I don’t know what will happen. Today it’s warm and sunny in the woods, tomorrow it might be stormy or windy. There might even be a tornado.

The woods are teaching me a lot about how to live in this moment with Coronavirus. I am not in charge of it. I can only do my little part to keep myself safe, and my fellow walkers, shoppers, and neighbors safe.

It doesn't matter what you and I think might happen. The most important thing for me is to cherish this moment, in this place where I live.

Author, blogger, and photographer Annette Gendler writes:

“My world is pretty small right now. . .a bunch of acres of Indiana countryside and my family of five. And that's what I'm focusing on: my little world! Being productive within that little world, making a contribution, even if it's just chocolate pudding . . . and keeping the peace. Anyone hunkered down with family knows that that is a tall order!”

Oh! This looks interesting. I wonder what will happen next.

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