It’s hard to find time for a grand adventure in the mountains. Or even a walk in the woods for that matter. Jobs, kids, life, and countless other interruptions all find ways to vie for our attention. Some of it is welcome, and some of it, not so much. But that’s life, and we have to find our way through it.
When we can get there, getting out in the mountains is a great way to buck all of our responsibilities and distractions for a while and reconnect with ourselves. Having a singular mission to find the prettiest spot up high gives us clarity and eases the stress in our minds, if not the stress on our calves. Only having to mind our feet, we come to see what’s important again and eliminate the things in our life that are causing us unnecessary weight. Sorry, you still have to pay taxes, but maybe you can cut out a negative relationship or delete one of the TV subscription accounts you haven’t watched in six months.
But what about all of the days in between your big hikes? How do you keep your head? Stay grounded? Take a big exhale?
Lately, my wife and I have been going for after dinner walks around our village, and I must say, it’s been quite lovely. Given where we’re at in the calendar, these little ambles have us out and about just before sunset, and—I can’t believe it—but after almost eighteen years here, I’m still noticing new trees and little slivers of life that I never noticed before. Some of the trees aren’t easy to miss either, like a giant sycamore sitting right on the corner of a road I’ve probably walked a thousand times. It’s not that I never noticed it before, I suppose. I think I’ve always been aware of it in a way. But these strolls have me actually seeing it for the first time.
The sycamore isn’t the only thing. There’s been so much I’ve only recently accounted for it’s got me wondering: have I been walking too quickly through my neighborhood all these years? There’s a rhododendron at the end of my street, already in bloom, that I don’t remember seeing before, and a couple crabtrees that I swear, sprang up overnight. When did those get here? I’ve also noticed changes on people’s houses: a newly finished antique door, for example, stained a rich walnut hue that’s absolutely beautiful. On almost every street there is something new to look at, like a canvas that’s being painted over by an artist who wasn’t satisfied with last year’s work.
My favorite part of the walk, though, is when we arrive at this little corner of the baseball field where I used to coach my boys’ youth baseball games. There’s an old post-and-rail fence at the edge of the field and as you approach it from the east, the setting sun looks back at you, over the baseball diamond and through the trees, infusing the scene with butterscotch light. It’s as if you are looking back not only on the happy memories of your life, but the memories of a thousand others, laughing together. This past week, every time we walk by it, my wife and I comment: “There it is. The prettiest spot in town.” And it only took us a few minutes to walk there.
You know, you can roam far and wide and find beautiful places all over the earth. Some will blow you away with their grandeur and majesty, and some will give you the peace you have long sought but couldn’t find at home. This is all true. I have been guilty of such pursuits and most of the time, I find them to be incredibly rewarding. But you can also find beautiful spots not too far from home. You just have to look. Maybe you have to walk five blocks away, or ten. But I promise you, they are there. You can find the prettiest spot wherever you are.
So go. Walk around the block. Say hi to a neighbor. Give the trees on your street a second look. See if there’s some plant, or some other improvement you missed before. A bird you never heard before. A light in the sky that paints the space in a whole new color. And maybe, if you do that, you’ll find the prettiest spot in your neighborhood and will start to worry less about all of the other pretty spots in the world you might be missing out on.
Which is what you want.
Why had I never fully noticed this guy before?