I have made a self discovery lately. I have discovered that I have fed myself stories that are not true. For years I have said that "I do not like the great outdoors". I am not really sure why I deduced this. I have told myself this story so many times that I believed it. I wonder how many other lies I have been telling to myself. Over the last week or so, my firmly held belief that I do not like the outdoors, has been proven to be untrue.
I have slowly realized that I do actually like being outside over the past two weeks, largely in part because of the kid's school trips. It started with Riley and Rowan's Terry Fox run down the Trans-Canada Trail. It was beautiful. I told myself that I would take Fergus there for a walk, but I didn't.
Next came Grace's trip to the Frink Centre, Outdoor Learning Centre. I loved it. My final proof came yesterday afternoon.
Yesterday was Thanksgiving Monday. The kids had the day off, Christopher had the day off, dinner was already done (left overs, glorious left overs). Every year I take fall pictures of the kids. The fall gives breathtaking colours and the light is perfect for pictures. They always turn out beautifully. We decided that we would take a run over to our friends the Needham's maple sugar bush and shoot my fall family pictures. The maple leaves would be gorgeous. Unfortunately, they were headed over for Heather's family Thanksgiving dinner. So we decided on next week-end (fingers crossed that there will still be some leaves on the trees).
I suggested that we go to the Trans-Canada Trail and I could snap some pictures there. We took Fergus so that he could both get some exercise and be in the pictures. Off we went. The weather had a nip, but it was not an unpleasant nip. We would walk a little, and then the kids would see something that they wanted to explore. I took lots of pictures. I realized shortly after we had begun to walk that my shoulders were no longer attached to my ears. My mind began to calm, I was only thinking of the here and the now. Each step brought new smells. Some parts of the trial smelled like that sweet yet slightly musty leaves scent. The next step smelled like pine. The next the fresh smell of river.
At one point on the walk I noticed that my cheeks were feeling tired, that was when I realized that I had been smiling at my kids the whole walk. I loved their sense of adventure. My kids are normally fairly timid, frightened kids. It was so heart warming to see them asking if they could climb huge rocks, and jumping, and going down into huge valleys. They were so excited about everything that they saw. They wanted to explore everything.
The kids were thrilled to discover the old bridge. They stood watching the water for a long time. Rowan shouted out that he had seen a beaver. They just stood there, mesmerized by the water. Rowan then listed off all of the animals that he had seen. He saw a huge dead and flattened toad (the Trans-Canada trail is used by all-terrain vehicles as well as walkers and horse riders), a woody woodpecker, a beaver, and a flattened snake. He was so excited about them all. It did not seem in the least odd to him to include dead animals, and to also list them as "the flat toad", "the dead snake".
I am very lucky to live where I live. We have old train lines that have been converted into trails for anyone to use, that is what the Trans- Canada Trail is. I live so close to nature, and yet for so long I have ignored this. Well I promise myself that I will no longer say that I do not like the outdoors, because I do. I promise myself to take better advantage to the beauty that surrounds me.
Please take a second and vote for me.
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