Connecting with Nature

I like connecting with nature for spiritual renewal, especially just right outside my own front door! Some folks believe that you have to hike for miles out into the wilderness in order to experience nature, but for me, this isn't true. I don't have time to spend all day hiking or sitting in a canoe. When I get home from work, I enjoy taking our two dogs for a walk down our street. While they sniff around and do their doggie business, I take time to enjoy the crape myrtles, amaryllis lillies, confederate jasmine, lantana, or whatever seasonal flowers are in bloom in our neighborhood. Sometimes we pick a flower or two for a little bouquet for our dining room table, or to place at the feet of our Buddha statue who sits in the entrance to our home. I enjoy the butterflies and bumble bees, as well as the birds that inhabit our area. Our feathered friends include pileated woodpeckers, owls, red-shouldered hawks, cardinals, mockingbirds, and others. The arrival of the sandhill cranes in the Fall is always a special time. I love to hear them "honk" as they fly over our house.

We grow Japanese timber bamboo and Buddha Belly bamboo in our yard, as well as mimosa, hibiscus, and Spanish Bayonet yucca, which makes wonderful huge white blooms in the Spring. Now that Summer his here, our pineapple plant is making fruit. The birds enjoy splashing in our birdbath. We have a patio made of old red bricks in the backyard, and I enjoy going out there in the evening when things are peaceful. Our date palm tree is making fruit, and I love to hear playful squirrels scampering up the tree to munch on the dates. When it is breezy, our Solari bell and wind chimes make beautiful tinkling music. I got a hanging basket of periwinkle, bursting with blossoms, for my birthday last month, and it hangs brightly over our patio, providing a cheerful splash of color. Lush green English ivy covers the patio fence. So that's my daily nature experience. It isn't as exotic as a long hike at Payne's Prairie or a canoe trip down the Santa Fe River, but it works for me!