What a walk can reveal

It is as simple as taking some time for yourself.
So often are we scheduled from dawn until dusk, moving from meeting to meeting, checking the clock for what event awaits us next. With hardly a moment to breathe, we are already looking past what is in front of us, skimming over what marvels may meet us, on the daily life journeys we lead.
When we make the choice to, for a moment, embark upon a walk, we may find what a walk can truly reveal — about our selves and the world surrounding us.

I have looked to my Mother’s example. It may be morning. It may be evening. It may be during lunch. Growing up, I would see my Mother pumping her arms and extending her feet forward on the country road leading from our house for her walk, a time sacred to her and well-known to me. She would return, calmer than before, more centered, more alive. She would share a story of some fascinating discovery she encountered along the way. Sometimes, I would walk with her. We would engage more fully in conversation as we observed the world around us — a piece of old farm equipment, the golden sheen of wheat stalks in the evening light, a squirrel’s warning call from atop a Douglas fir tree.
Are there ever enough opportunities to go for a walk? Every moment is a potential calling for slipping on your shoes, putting on your jacket, and venturing forth from your four walls into the wildness of your neighborhoods, both great and small. Who knows what awaits you.
Take a step forward. Stretch your legs. Breathe. Go see what wonders you can find on a walk outside.
Below are some moments captured while taking a walk among the fall landscape surrounding the Environmental Learning Center.

Sometimes the hardest part of walking is the first step, Sourdough Creek trail

Decomposing mushrooms extend upwards in a snag along the Sourdough Creek trail

Fall colors contrasting along the Sourdough Creek trail

A Clark’s Nutcracker searching for insects in bark at the Learning Center

Sourdough Creek as a raging torrent, fresh with new snowmelt

A garter snake shows its charismatic personality

Another Clark’s Nutcracker looking for seeds, its feathers glossy from rain

The waterfall cascading at Sourdough Creek trail’s end