Having recently moved to Webster, NY some 20 minutes outside of Rochester city, we are spending a lot more time outside (though it is still quite chilly here in May: we’ve had freezing temps and even flurries these days!)
Adjacent to our new home is the North Ponds park that is made up of large pools and rolling hills where geese, ducks, and Caspian terns share fish with little freshwater otters that zip by across the surface of the waters.
Further along is the Bird Sanctuary Trail where, so far, we have identified a pileated woodpecker, red-winged blackbirds, cardinals, European starlings, and a hawk: who still has remained too shy to identify with more detail.
One evening, during a warm spell, I was sitting outside my home reading and gazing around at some pear trees on our property, I suddenly had this feeling that started with a tickle in my stomach and a flicker of energy in my feet that made me curl my toes in my slippers. I realized that I hadn’t felt pure, wholesome joy in quite a while. Yes, I am generally happy-—trying to remember that happiness is not a state of mind, but a way of thinking—-as I run from school, to work, to home chores, to homework, to the next meal, to some time for decompressing, and on and on the list goes until bedtime.
Living in the downtown region of a city was wearing upon my mind and body more than I had thought; I didn’t realize how much until that peaceful evening where I was reading outdoors on a cozy chair by the orange light pouring through one of our windows behind me.
Above is a "video about forests," but "also a video about you." It made us smile here in our new home :)
Adjacent to our new home is the North Ponds park that is made up of large pools and rolling hills where geese, ducks, and Caspian terns share fish with little freshwater otters that zip by across the surface of the waters.
Further along is the Bird Sanctuary Trail where, so far, we have identified a pileated woodpecker, red-winged blackbirds, cardinals, European starlings, and a hawk: who still has remained too shy to identify with more detail.
One evening, during a warm spell, I was sitting outside my home reading and gazing around at some pear trees on our property, I suddenly had this feeling that started with a tickle in my stomach and a flicker of energy in my feet that made me curl my toes in my slippers. I realized that I hadn’t felt pure, wholesome joy in quite a while. Yes, I am generally happy-—trying to remember that happiness is not a state of mind, but a way of thinking—-as I run from school, to work, to home chores, to homework, to the next meal, to some time for decompressing, and on and on the list goes until bedtime.
Living in the downtown region of a city was wearing upon my mind and body more than I had thought; I didn’t realize how much until that peaceful evening where I was reading outdoors on a cozy chair by the orange light pouring through one of our windows behind me.
Above is a "video about forests," but "also a video about you." It made us smile here in our new home :)
