Tag: Serenity

Early fall in the natural world

In early fall, one of my small pleasures is to go out on the lake in the early morning right before sunrise to look at the congregation of ducks, geese and swans on a small, newly-emerged island near our shore. They usually scatter when they see or sense me coming near. Once a heron took off into the foggy mist as I approached, and the vision of those grey, graceful wings flapping and disappearing into the foggy shadow floored me to the ground in awe. There was something a little eerie about that whole scene which could be used as a portentous setting for a Stephen King novel.

Right after that brief eerie moment, the sun started lighting up the sky and then proceeded to touch the treetops.

At the Stillwater Scenic Trail, walkers enjoy witnessing the trees turning yellow on the walking trail and many trees around the lake turning red.

In mid-September, the transformation was at its early stages:

Now in almost mid-October, the autumnal transformation is nearly in full swing:

Our lake in summer

Almost every morning this summer, whenever opening the bedroom window upon waking up, I would look out on the left to Georgiaville lake. Due to the obstruction of the many trees in their thickest summer foliage, I would usually be able to see only a small surface of the lake, but any glimmer of the water reflecting the morning sunlight or even of just ripples under an overcast sky would send me the signal that another day has begun. After my bathroom routine, I would then proceed to go downstairs to look at a bigger portion of the lake surface straight ahead from our small balcony and would soak in the view. Our lake has an almost daily visitor that has never failed to enthrall me: a misty ghost crawling, curling and swirling on the water.

Here is the ghostly mist in action in July:

Here it is again in August:

When J2 started school in late August, we would have to get up at 6am and get him to the bus stop around 6:45am. After dropping off J2, I would get back home to a quiet neighborhood in the cool morning air. I would sit in our little garden to soak in the quietness and enjoy the solitude. Then I would walk down to the lake to just be there by myself.

A natural way to soothe the tense nervous system through a heatwave

We had a heatwave that lasted for 2 or 3 days some time this last June. Although most people here have air-conditioned homes and go to work in (sometimes heavily) air-conditioned buildings, I sensed people’s collective stressful anticipation of and suffering from the excessively hot temperatures outside. I myself was most uncomfortable physically during the ultra-hot days regardless of the existence of air-conditioning. Our home felt stuffy to someone like me who is not used to living in spaces constantly shut in and pumped with forced artificial air.

To help soothe my nervous system, since I’m hyper-sensitive to the collective stress and anxiety in my environment, and to ease my feeling of being shut in during those oppressive days, I decided to bring nature indoor. I would go down to our garden early every single morning to enjoy the fresher, cooler morning air and to cut hydrangea blooms for display in strategic spots in our home. The hydrangea blossoms were arranged and displayed where I would be most likely to not only look at them while passing but to gaze at and contemplate them as well. Something about the freshness and unspoiled beauty of nature that would always act as healing balm on my strained nervous system and weary soul.