Once upon a time, before the COVID virus kept us sheltering in the place, we might have spent an April day visiting gardens or traveling to some special place where we were sure to be thrilled by spring.
Now most of us are staying home and the idea of driving to a special place is out of the question.
Indeed, many of the parks and open-space areas have closed their parking lots and have restricted access to locals who can walk or bike to them. All public gardens are closed.
But of course, nature continues on with her spring show whether we are there to see it or not.
In California, wildflower season is in full swing; spring is not cancelled. But rather than be sad that we can’t see it, we can use this as an opportunity to go find beauty right where we are.
Go out, stroll the neighborhood and make a point to find beauty. Find it locally in the smallest of things, in the most subtle of ways; open your senses to beauty that’s always there.
Go out and smell the unusually fresh air, listening for birds that seem more plentiful this year, watch for wildflowers, and notice trees with their fresh new leaves. But then, don’t stop looking for beauty – find it in many things beyond nature and the natural world.
There is something special in the human soul that allows us to comprehend beauty to be soothed by it and to see it as something bigger than us.
We find beauty in music, art, the written word; there is beauty in craftsmanship, in the way things work, in how things are made; there is beauty in people just going about their day, in their hearts and friendships; their is beauty in the laughter of children.
But it is spring, and beauty is out every door. Mother Nature is making it easy to be inspired by just going outside with eyes open and the sensed turned on. Look closely at almost any plant.
I walk our neighborhood every day with my sheep dog, Kona, and I do recognize that I am very blessed that my neighborhood includes a lot of open space out my door.
But I do get out every day, and I do try to find something different, and I do post pictures to Instagram with hopes that you can go looking for beauty outside your own doors.
Go find beauty, find it all around you.
Instagram – Walks with Konadog
The bearded iris looks like a Georgia O’Keeffe painting! Gorgeous!
I escape the COVID restriction feeling by walking around Warwick Forest and the adjacent woods. The beauty of spring abounds!
Thanks, Saxon!
Thanks Susan – so glad you can get out. Spring is not cancelled