365 Challenge Day 256 – Spring!!!

365 Challenge Day 14 – Nature

I am self-proclaimed City Girl.  I like being around lots of people.  I like being around lots of stuff.  I like knowing there is a 24 hour pharmacy walking distance from my house.  And because I live in an awesome, progressive, and diverse city, I like going out to eat and having lots of vegan, and international options.

But, even being a City Girl, I love Nature.  I am especially fond of urban nature.  This means I love to go for walks and see trees and flowers and flowing water, but still know that all my people and stuff are nearby : )

I live in a city that has a great combination of both.  I wouldn’t be able to live in a concrete jungle like NYC, even though there are so many awesome and amazing options there, it’s just not pretty enough for me.

Here there are parks, ponds, and rivers, landscaped green areas, and lots of houses with beautiful front lawns.

Nature is always in the present moment; our minds can be all over the place, and spending time in nature can bring us back to the Now, and ground us.  Nature is so beautiful!!  I love the four seasons; the amazing colors of spring, summer, fall, and winter all inspire me.  Nature is tenacious, and will find a way to thrive in harshest and most unpredictable conditions; like the blades of grass that push through cracks in the concrete.  Nature is adaptable; I always marvel at the tree trunks that grow right through a metal chain link fence.  Nature is fierce, and real; there is no sugar-coating the damage and destruction nature does with its earthquakes, tsunamis, and storms.  And nature is all-encompassing; everything in us and around us, even the most garish “man-made” objects, in their origins are derived from nature, and will someday return to it.

I feel grateful that I work in a place where I can step outside and go for a walk along the river.  Today I ate lunch at my desk and then spent my entire lunch hour out walking, enjoying the bright sunshine, and the vibrant green leaves and new flowers of spring.  I took these pictures on my walk today.

Ten thousand flowers in spring,

The moon in autumn.

A cool breeze in summer,

Snow in winter.

If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things,

This is the best season of your life.

~Wu-men