Appreciation

I love the outdoors. I love everything about it. I love the fresh clean air, bright blue skys, the wind on my face. Everything. I love hiking. I love the beauty of nature, being surrounded by trees, the majesty of the mountains. Everything. I feel like where I live, though, I miss out. I wish I lived somewhere where when the sun set, you could see billions of stars. I wish I lived where more exotic animals than robins and squirrels crossed my daily path. Once in a blue moon I'll get lucky enough to see a deer.

I love the peacefulness of nature. How when you're surrounded by nature, you can actually hear it. Hear the birds, crickets, the wind. I can actually hear myself think. There's no horns or cars speeding past. There's no people shouting. Wrapped up in nature is when I feel closest to God. There's this place near campus on the Kinnickinick River that I LOVE to go. You walk along the river and it's nothing but thick woods and the river. All you hear is the rustle of the leaves, the flow of the river, birds, insects, and the occasional fish jumping out of the water. I like to go here alone. I like to sit along the river with the sun on my skin and the wind on my cheek and talk to God, pray, and think about life.

While I'm at home, I just have to settle for backyard. I love to lay out there and read whenever I get the chance. It's not quiet, there's cars and people and such, but it's still beautiful. I'll lay out there and look at the sky, the clouds idly flowing past. I look at the trees and how brilliantly green and full they are. I appreciate the simple beauty of nature that when one takes the time to look at, turns out, isn't so simple at all; it's majestic. I hope people, in their busy lives, don't forget to appreciate the world around them.