Finding Solitude

My daughter shows off some flowering seeds she found on the ground on a recent hike.

Hiking has always been my thing. For me, it's not just a way to stay in shape and be one with nature, it's a way of life and my passion. More than that, it's also my refuge and how I find solitude and escape amidst life in a busy, urban world. 

Recently, this has become a challenge. There are a handful of places close-by that I hit up regularly that fulfill my nature needs, but lately, things have changed. Because of the global pandemic and the need for social distancing, more people than ever are getting outside - and going to all of my usual places. This is a challenge as it not only hampers my ability to find solitude, but it makes social distancing quite difficult. Not that I can blame any of these people. When you're stuck inside and can't go to your usual places, you have to get out somewhere, right?




Because of all this, I've started falling back on places farther out of the city - both new and old to me. 




These places allow me the break from the city I look forward to, the nature I crave, and the solitude I so desperately need. 




It's so nice to be able to get outside somewhere where it feels like you're all alone.




We've been having a good time exploring places we haven't been in a while, and places that have become new favorites.




We found some animal bones on one of these trips and my daughter brought them home to do some research. She's my nature girl for sure.




She passes up NO opportunity to walk on fallen trees - something her brother taught her from a young age.




In this post, I've shared pictures of three places we've gone to lately. I had intended to make a post about each one separately, but, because of the need for people to understandably get outside, I'm no longer sharing the names of places I'm going...at least for a while. I want to keep them all to myself and to the much fewer of us willing and able to go to them. 

As I write this post, I'm sipping coffee and packing up a big picnic lunch to take on a big hike today. It's another new place and somewhere I was going to meet up with my dad to tackle. We can't meet up though, which makes me really sad, but I'm going to hike it today and tell him all about it later.




I hope you're all doing well and that you are spending more time outside. If anything, I hope one of the positives to come out of all of this is that people shed their more sedentary lifestyles and be more active. Have a good rest of your weekend.




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