Another Walk in the Woods

Another Walk in the Woods

A waist high ant nest

I would never call myself an outdoorsman or a woodsman.  Camping, with the smell of smoke on my clothes and grit under my nails and the choice between a cold wash-up in the creek and smelling like an exhausted racehorse is no choice at all.  And, sipping burnt coffee from a tin cup can never replace a dry martini in a well tended bar and a comfortable leather club chair.

I don’t hunt or fish, although plenty of my friends do.

But, I do enjoy solitude, which is a rarity indoors, with washing to be done and housecleaning and doorbells and financials that can’t wait, along with emails pinging and iMessages chirping and someone nearby who promises “This will only take a minute.”

So what’s an ‘only comfortable with comfort’ person to do.  I say choose both:  Outdoor strolls, then back to the comfort of home.  So, I take walks in the woods.

Do I mean hikes with a forty pound backpack, and plodding up steep, rocky hillsides?  No, I do not.  For me, it’s a three quarters of an hour stroll through the forests, my trusty camera at my side, hearing the music of the wind rustled leaves, admiring the serene beauty of nature, hearing birds chirping in the trees and watching wild ducks gliding through the water, the bright, careless beauty of wild flowers, the mystery of trails leading to other trails, and most of all, the complete lack of human contact, while only mild hills tax endurance.

The pleasant silence gives a body time to think and plan and figure out what’s important. Strangely, washing and mowing the yard doesn’t make the list.  You can mark out those five-minute jobs and grocery shopping, also.

On this trip through the woods, I got all I asked for and more.

Northern Pintails

A grass snake, about the size of a No 2 Yellow pencil

Relaxing, but not yet martini time.  Guess I better get started on the washing, pick up a few things at the grocers, clean out that closet and see if I can get the &Y^%$# computer to reboot.

Even the beauty of serenity doesn’t last forever.  But, now at least I’m rejuvenated.  Enjoy the rest of the photos!

A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods

In Germany, everyone walks.  The young, the not so young, the ancients who remember Bismarck as a young whippersnapper with a distant dream.  Seasons don’t matter.  I’ve seen German octogenarians pushing aluminum walkers, trodding through boot-deep snow, their hands clinging to the metal, a blissful look that screams “Hey, look at me!.”

I’m a fair weather walker, although I give the Germans their due as they splash through puddles of rainwater and treat it as of no account, and the flow of droplets from their rain slickers and wind tossed umbrellas.

Nope.  Not for me.  Neither rain nor snow. But I aint’ no postman!  I prefer happy thoughts and creative thoughts, not the prelim to survival situations.  Precipitation of all sorts is what houses were built for.

As both my faithful readers might guess by now….snoozing already?  Wake up!  This is important.  I’m about to take you for a walk in the German woods near my house.  Usually, I walk blissfully for at least a half hour and sometimes up to an hour.  But don’t worry, this stroll won’t take more than five minutes.

Spring, summer, and even close to autumn is best for yours truly. The wind in the green bushy leaves of the forest.  Ducks on the partially hidden ponds.  People sitting and idly chatting on the weather beaten wooden benches.  The spots of sunshine breaking bright and golden through the trees.  If it’s rained recently, best to watch your step. Slugs the size of your middle finger are unwanted pedestrians on the paths that leads across walking bridges and around the still waters of dark ponds and trickling brooks.

Enough chatter from me.  Let me show you the scenes you’ll see and allow you to dream the dreams that float through your mind.  Unless you’re living in the concrete jungle or an urban eyesore or the spreading abomination of endless antbed neighborhoods, I know you’ll find your own place of solace to stretch your legs and lose yourself in thoughts you never have time to think and plans forever trapped in tomorrow.

For now, let’s abandon the to-do list of mundane chores.

Relax.  I’m not talking about starting the timer, or beating your best time for a hip-swinging Olympic level strut.  I’m talking about observing your surroundings and deep breaths and putting a smile on your face at the sight of ducks placidly swimming and songbirds singing and insects chirping.

Divorce yourselves for a few precious moments, from the screeching call of the dust and broom and piles of wash and the rattle of the washing machine and phone calls from work and stressful familial duties.

This is time for you to renew and mentally repair. What’s an hour from your day?  Deep refreshment, the return of joy, the soul quenching sense of self, reaffirmation of a life worth living is what it is.

Come on!  Let’s stroll!

More Than a Restful Walk

Ever take a walk, just for the hell of it?  Get out in the woods, or amble around a lake? Ponder the swaying of the trees in a light breeze? Marvel at the springtime flowers?  Bask in the sunshine and breath deeply in the open air, while you tingle with the light, lingering hint of winter’s chill?

The Germans are an outdoor race.  Even with snow on the ground, people are out in the countryside, walking dogs, chatting with neighbors as they stroll through woodland trails.  I’ve even seen octogenarians of both sexes pushing their walkers through the snow.  Maybe that’s why they seem less frenzied, calmer, and more congenial than many Americans.  I think it’s not the walking, as much as it is taking the time to get outside the stress of job and soul deadening routines.

Then comes the first hint of spring.  Daffodils sprout in butter yellow bursts, cradled in green, spiked castles.  A greenish haze on the black, outstretched arms of the deciduous trees.  Presto!  The Germans come out in flocks and last weekend, I was smart enough to join them.

 Why go for a walk?  Ok, there’s the physical health benefits we all know about.  But walking also settles my mind and sets me at ease.

I can hear your comments:  “I go to the gym.  Walking’s a waste of time.”  Yeah, yeah, I know.  You go to the gym because your friends tell you they go and you don’t want to be left out.  It’s the modern mantra: My mind is a wasteland, but just look at my body! You work hard, while you chat and listen to music, or watch TV on the screen in front of the treadmill.  Pat yourself on the back.  Multitasking, right?  Not so fast, my friend.

Nancy K. Napier,PhD, writing in Psychology Today:

(https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/creativity-without-borders/201405/the-myth-multitasking)

 “Think you’re good at doing several things at once?  Driving and talking on the phone (hands free, of course), or texting while sitting in a meeting? Think again.

Much recent neuroscience research tells us that the brain doesn’t really do tasks simultaneously, as we thought (hoped) it might.  In fact, we just switch tasks quickly.  Each time we move from hearing music to writing a text or talking to someone, there is a stop/start process that goes on in the brain.

That stop/start process is rough on us:  rather than saving time, it costs time (even very small micro seconds), it’s less efficient, we make more mistakes, and over time it can be energy sapping.”

Don’t believe Ms. Napier?  Click on the link above and take the simple test.

Then there’s the creative aspect of walking.  Maybe you’re just not taking the time to be creative, or not taking the time to let your mind relax and your thoughts delightfully wander. 

 No time to be creative?  In The Art of Creative Thinking, Rod Judkins writes: “Our ability to immerse ourselves in the present is one we must nurture.”  He further expounds, “There is an art to doing nothing, intensely…Genius is so rare today because we are so distracted, updated, and connected.  Rather than steering life, we’re reacting to whatever pours in.

(http://stroudallover.blogspot.de/2016/02/the-art-of-creative-thinking-by-rod.html)

Dr. Steven R. Covey, author of The 7Habits of Highly Effective People said, “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”  Just another way of saying, do what’s most important to you, and do them first.  But, how do you find the time to do that?

Ever get through a day having accomplished a long list of “to do”s and feel as if you’ve accomplished nothing?  Perhaps it’s because you mailed a letter, shopped for a sweater, folded the laundry, dusted the living room, sat through a boring meeting, and chatted with friends, before a four hour ballgame on TV, or going to a movie.  What you have actually done is put off those things most important to you.  Writing a book. Learning a language. Researching the family tree.  Sitting quietly for an hour or two to consider what your garden should look like, improving that living room you spend so much time dusting, or reading the book you’ve been meaning to read one day.  Strolling is a great time to daydream about your perfect fantasy life, the way you’d really like to live.

So consider this when you think about walking.  It’s a time to free your mind from the stuff that clutters it, all day, everyday.  No distractions.  No music except the wind in the trees.  A generous, fabulous outpouring of nature.  Flowers.  Trees.  Even your neighbor’s yard.  The colors, the designs.  Wonder why daffodils are the harbingers of spring, why evergreens are evergreen and oaks are not, except for live oaks…and wonder about that too.

Angst flees when you think about the things that are important to you.  Where should your family go on the next vacation?  What are some family games you can play with your spouse and kids that don’t involve a screen and controller?  Sure, you talk to your kids, but do you know what’s flitting through their minds? 

Here’s a question to ponder:  If you were about to exit this life, what are the things you will wish you would have done?  Not talking about a so-called bucket list of things to quickly do and superficially see.  To me, those buckets are empty.

Most of all, take the time to thankfully appreciate all that you have.

You can do all of those things and more, when you let your mind relax and with a leisurely walk.

 Let your mind glimpse the important things.  It’s never a waste of time. A long walk.  A walk that lets your mind flow like a glassy stream over ideas and questions.  Forget TV and multitasking.  Do what the Germans do.  Go out and stroll.  You’ll be happier for it.  And healthier.

Heimkirchen: Wandering Through the Woods, Looking for Food

Up the hill and into the forest

(more photos follow the aimless verbiage)

The Germans are outdoor people.  Even in the midst of winter, you see people old enough to know better, creaking along, stabbing their canes in the snow as they tramp through a morning walk.  When the weather turns fair, meaning anything above freezing, pouring rain or not, the multitudes come forth to walk, jog, or bike through the woods and fields.  Quite often on the weekends and holidays, these walks are organized, with signs to guide you and refreshments at beginning and end.  If you’re lucky, there are even souvenir prizes, like mugs, metals, or plates.

Clubs exist whenever two or more Germans share a passion, whether it’s classic cars, rowing, or cake decorating.  One of my German friends is in so many clubs it’s tough to keep track:  model boats, classic cars, hiking, rowing, et al.  Very social folks these Germans.

Anyway, back to the subject of volksmarches.  As you might imagine, there’s an organization for that also, dating from 1968, the International Federation of Popular Sports (IVV), or in German, Internationaler Volkssportverband.  The essence of the sport is non-competitive walking.  I like the non-competitive part, which not only gets people of all ages out in the fresh air and verdant forests, but also keeps me from igniting my competitive side and busting my hump in a never-ending quest not to be dead last.

There’s another aspect that draws me to IVV events.  In a word, beer.  In another word (as if any red-blooded male needed another one) is wurst.

You tramp through the woods, stop for a bier and a brat, then tramp some more.  Hills.  Dales.  Forests.  Past swaying fields of grain, cows, horses,  Best of all, at the end there’s more bier und wurst! 

This particular walk, near Heimkirchen, favored outdoor flavors.  There was local wine, sausages and smoked bacon made from wild boar, as well as smoked trout from nearby streams.

Other culinary tours I’ve enjoyed, and plan to write more about, are walking tours through vineyards, and those sponsored by restaurants. Hey, I walk for food.

The volksmarches get you to quaint villages, through fertile fields, and into some of the most luscious forests on earth.  The German passion for the outdoors is catching and I think I’ve got the bug.

Wheat fields are everywhere

The social aspects are every bit as important as the exercise

I love the quaint villages nestled in the countryside