I was leaving a shop in downtown Jackson, Ohio when I happened to look up. Check out this view. All these brightly painted buildings really popped against the gloomy sky. Rain was coming but it didn’t matter because the colors were so pretty.
Whether you look at this photo and see a gloomy sky or pretty buildings is up to you. Just know that life is a little easier when you embrace the happy colors than when you only focus on the bad.
Have a great Monday, friends. Go look for something beautiful today!
Naturalist John Muir hated the word hike. He famously said “I don’t like either the word [hike] or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains—not hike!”
He believed that nature shouldn’t be treated as something needing conquering or to be endured. Instead he thought it should be experienced and approached reverently. Nature and the mountains in particular were a Holy Land to him and walking through them should be peaceful.
It should be a saunter.
And that’s exactly what I did today. I sauntered through Lake Katherine State Nature Preserve, stopping to admire tree bark, to watch squirrels scurry up their trees, and to admire tiny little wildflowers no bigger than the nail bed of a toddler’s pinky finger.
I ran my hand across many kinds of moss and admired the texture of rock walls that were here long before humans and will hopefully withstand us for many generations to come.
It was wonderful.
And despite going slow, I still worked in some nice cardio on the long uphill stretches. Here in Ohio, we tend to avoid the switchbacks seen in western outdoor spaces and send hikers straight up steep hills.
It will strengthen the heart, knees and lungs!
My hiking companions all seem happy going at their own pace so that makes it easier for those who need or wish to keep their own pace.
Since it was warm and humid I was quite happy going a little slower. All the same, it was a good day for a saunter and a good day to be outdoors.
Google image search tells me this is a Great Spangled Fritillary. It was perched on some clover in the jungle that is my back yard when I came home yesterday. Seriously people. Rain plus heat plus no time to weed when it’s not raining is caused the weeds to take over.
Nonetheless, isn’t it beautiful?
I tend to see more moths than butterflies at my home for some reason so I was thrilled to find this visitor. Here’s hoping she brings friends and they hang around!
This is a nice little corner of the world. The flag, bicycle and tub full of flowers make an inviting tableau. A bench in the shade invited me to escape the sun and rest my weary self for a bit. Unfortunately, I had places to be and a schedule to keep so I walked right past this downtown Chillicothe, Ohio antique shop with plans to come back another day.
