A walk through the woods...

It's that time of year when I'm so incredibly tired of Winter. With all my being, I want Spring. I want signs of life, not hibernation. In Northern lower Michigan, our winters are quite the dramatic ones. We can get snow and winter temperatures right up through the end of May. I believe that March is the beginning to the end of winter, but winter has it's own ideas of how it would like to retreat. During these times, a walk through the woods by our home helps me to recenter my mind. There are trees everywhere on our land and quite a few of them are dramatically tall, spindly, and scare me because of their looming height. Not to mention that the dead ones that are still standing there could snap off in a wind storm like match sticks. These dead ones are the ones that intrigue me the most... they are the ones the eagle's perch in when they start building their nests. They are also the ones the woodpeckers and squirrels use for homes. I've seen dead trees with over thirty holes in them as if a carpenter climbed up there and carved out an apartment building for all the inhabitants of the forest to rest easy in a midwinter storm. On the ground, the fallen trees have lichen and moss silently creating oxygen for all of us under the shelter of their bellies. I breath in deep and smell the clean air. There is a fresh energy in the air. It is one of possibilities and change. I see a tiny mushroom next to a trunk of a tree. I also notice that the snow is melted completely around the trunks of trees. How does that happen and why? I really don't know. All I know is that winter is slowly retreating with these signs of change however unnoticed they go to the rest of the world. I walk even further into the woods and sit down on a dry stump that squirrels have used as a perch while they eat their seeds in the sun. I listen.... The sounds are incredible. Where did all these birds come from? I didn't even notice them before. This concert of winged beings reminds me of all those times I've walked through a town, or my office, or even through my own living room and forgot to stop and notice what was happening around me. What was REALLY happening around me. I tend to be laser focused on my own "tasks" and have to work hard to notice things around me that I don't feel... Now feeling people, that's another post entirely, but seeing what's happening in a general sort of way, I sometimes miss the best part. So, take it from me, that walk in the woods, it's the best reminder of reviving your senses, being present in the moment and giving yourself TIME to just be...