Get into nature

There is nothing more peaceful than dipping your toes into the blueish-green waters of a mountain lake or laying down on a hillside covered in wild grasses. Well, that is the case for me at least. I find extreme comfort in nature. There is something serene about waking up in a tent, camper, or vehicle and stepping out to see a beautiful landscape before the sun hits the ground. It takes me back to a place when I was young, a time when I had no worries or stressors. I have been hiking, skiing, fishing, camping, boating, and hunting for as long as I can remember. Being in nature always seems to evolve the best stories, in my opinion. One of my fondest memories happened to be on a youth hunt with my dad. I have always been a follower of my dad’s actions and a big admirer of his morals. We were hunting deer up in the mountains when I was 12 years old and had been hiking all morning. After sitting down to have a quick snack in a tallgrass meadow, I got tired. The sun was warm in late August, and it had been beating on me all day. My dad told me to lie down on my day pack and we took a little nap. I’m not sure how long I was asleep, but I was awoken by my dad whispering at me very aggressively. I wasn’t sure what was going on until he started pointing across the meadow to a black blob moving in the grass. I looked through my binoculars to see a black bear around 100 yards away from us. He was working his way closer to us, sniffing out our afternoon snacks. Dad and I packed up quietly and made our way up the hillside to a group of trees where we sat and watched the bear. He maneuvered his way to where we laid, and then started up the hill we were on. My dad had a bear tag and it looked like a decent-sized animal, so he asked for my gun, and he shot it. My dad is a good shot, and the bear went down quick. I was on top of the world! I had just witnessed the coolest first hunting trip ever. Once we had cleaned up the bear, we called my mom. She called us her “crazy kids”, half joking and half serious. Years later, I still remember this day like it was yesterday. Nature fosters so many valuable aspects of life that people can utilize in day-to-day life. It brings comfort and peace to a stressful time. It is the start of many new stories. It enhances creativity and thanks for our world. It teaches us to observe our surroundings and be adventurous in our lives. My favorite of all is that nature brings me self-awareness of the places I have been and the places I will go. So, next time you don’t know what to do with your day, get outside. Take a trip to the mountains, to a local park, find a hike along a river, or go walk your dog even! Take some time to enjoy your time on Earth and ground yourself back to your roots.