I did not spend much time outside today, as not only are Thursdays the most scheduled day of my week, but my dad is coming in this evening, so we needed to get things ready for his arrival.
Contrary to forecast, I woke up to see the sun shining on the neighbor’s house and blue skies above. It was mostly sunny overall, though the cumulus clouds that kept it from being entirely clear also had some rain, so there were some sprinkles.
The topic of calls I was on today was considering the question “What is your favorite nature connection routine?” For me, it was pretty easy, I like to wander around and take pictures. Over the years, I’ve incorporated other routines (though I don’t tend to think about them that way) such as listening for bird language and using my peripheral vision into my wanders, but fundamentally I tend toward the wander punctuated by stops to sit and relax for a bit.
Several people spoke about their sit spot – a routine I understand is quite valuable, but one I’ve also had trouble maintaining in any sort of consistent fashion. I think maybe in part, I incorporate some sit spot sort of aspects to my wanders. I typically go to the same area (most often the park), and often spend a chunk of the time sitting and trying to pay attention, but I think that’s probably not as effective as the consistent time and attention invested in a particular place.
It also occurred to me that part of my motivation for doing the work I am doing in my yard is to make it feel a little more inviting to me. Right now, I don’t usually feel all that inspired to spend time in my yard. The noise of the traffic un-dampened by anything. The feeling of being out in the open and exposed to anyone who happens to be passing by. Plus the vegetation is mostly either overgrown weedy species or gravel, neither of which are particularly inviting. I’ve noticed that as I have needed to be out there getting the shrubs put in the ground and cleaning up various parts of the yard, it’s getting easier to imagine a time when I enjoy just spending time out there, and at that point it will be much easier to engage in sit spot style activities as more of a routine, I suspect.