Go Outside and Admire Earth’s Beauty

Summer’s here: go outside and admire Earth’s beauty. This is a lush time for life outdoors. You really should go and enjoy it all. Go slowly enough that you can immerse yourself in your surrounds, and start to see the little things. Frequent stopping and gazing around is richly rewarded. Wonders abound, and with a tiny bit of work, will reveal themselves to the watcher.

Notice the Spring Azure butterflies flitting in the grasses and the dragonflies hawking for their insect meals. There is an yet unknown moth hiding in the grass.

Here and there you may spot the often reviled but beautiful Tent Caterpillar. Take a minute and notice her lovely turquoise colour and her marvelous patterning. Suddenly, you might start to think differently about these things; how could anything this beautiful be bad? Does it help to know that she develops into an absolutely beautiful moth? If you’re lucky, you might see a snake or a turtle, or even a fox.

The object of the walk is to walk slowly and to see a lot, not to go far, or fast. The faster you go, the less you see. Open your mind and clear your senses, and things will start to pop up in previously unexpected numbers.

Another benefit of the hour spent communing with the other lives present is that, somehow, at the end of it you’ll feel better.

Try it, experience it, you’ll like it and return, hopefully often.

There are lots of easy places to go, likely in your own neighbourhood. Is there a vacant lot? Try it, they can sometimes be rewarding. Try the Greenbelt paths, or those at Mud Lake. Gatineau Park has miles of easy trails, all of which are great for nature watching and experiencing.