I don’t know about other hikers but I can only watch so many virtual hikes from our park services until I’m mourning the loss of my trail legs.
Sure the videos and images are well intended yet shots of Yosemite or Grand Tetons makes me want to be there even more! I’m starting to really envy those damn freerange coyotes and goats that have filtered into places humans once swarmed. (Deep down I’m elated that wildlife feel free to roam.)
The Coronavirus pandemic has temporarily changed us into couch potatoes. But I’m fighting back!
I’m finding nature at home (and I’m sure the resident Mourning Doves, Quails and Grackles in my backyard are not too pleased.)
Nature Is Out My Backdoor
Before I was a hiker. Before I YEARNED to be outdoors. Before I knew and obsessed over the sound of crunchy steps. I was a mom. A stay-at-home mom, to be exact.
My life revolved around my home and my family. Me, my then husband, and our 2 kids lived in our own little postage stamp paradise just east of San Francisco.
Back then I loved nature but all I knew was generally out my backdoor or at best while car camping. Yet when I ventured outside I TOOK IT ALL IN.
What little bits of nature I could find from day to day I savored.
Still Need My Backyard
Life for me has changed. My kids are grown. I’m single. And left the Bay Area for Arizona. And I now hike like a mad woman. (Well, maybe not a mad woman but sometimes I go on trail angry and it seems to always solve my problems. Therapy at it’s best.)
Needless to say I’m a bit obsessed with hiking. Yet at the moment I can’t go too far, sometimes only to my backyard.
Pandemic Life for Hikers
Right now life has also changed temporarily for all of us, we’re asked to stay home to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus.
This is a HARD BLOW for those whose passions reside outside. We NEED our outdoor time.
Not all is lost. (Some but not ALL.)
Some of us are taking to our backyards. Setting up tents and hiking. Yes, hiking. (See man breaks his FKT on trail.)
Sure you get the experience of being outdoors but you need to take it a step further and really IMMERSE YOURSELF!
Now, bear with me a little.
Remember when I mentioned I was a mom and enjoyed being in my backyard with nature? I learned how to take in the outdoors when my kids learned back then. Some methods I use now and want to share with you are what many teachers, rangers, biologists, ecologists and all the “-ists” teach our kids.
It works.
Take a Journey. To Your Backyard.
Go outside to your backyard. What do you see?
Close your eyes. Block out the unnatural sounds of cars, planes and even barking dogs. What do you feel? Hear? Smell?
Use all 5 senses to discover the outdoor world around you. Do you feel a breeze? Hear a bird?
Look down. Actually get down on the ground.
Look for cracks, holes or gaps, what do you see? Are there small insects busying themselves? What color is the soil? Are there worms?
Now look up.
What’s in the sky? Leaves on the trees? Birds in the air?
What colors do you see? Textures? Shapes?
Research what lives in your backyard.
What kind of bird did you see? What does it eat? Does it migrate?
What kind of insect lives in your dirt? How is it beneficial (or harmful) to your backyard?
Do this in the morning, afternoon and at night, what changes? What inhabits your yard and when?
The Desert is Alive!
Since moving to the desert AND having to stay home more I’ve discovered so much in my backyard!
I stay silent every morning and don’t move as a quail perches himself on the fence to sing his quail song, his little head plum jumping to each note.
The sweetest Mourning Dove couple comes by everyday around 4 PM to get a drink of water from the pool.
When I head out at dusk I can hear the packs of coyotes in the distance excited for the coming evening.
The sunsets in Arizona are an array of mystical colors I’ve never witnessed.
And the WILDFLOWERS. The desert simply explodes in spring with so many colors! Bees are busy taking advantage of the flower frenzy!
Sometimes we think of our backyards as only ours. But we’ve created small biomes for other living things and nature. It’s a shame to not see the micro and the macro of it all.
Since doing this exercise I’ve learned a lot about my furry and feathery neighbors as well as the weather and plants around me. And, bonus, I’ve kept occupied enough most days to avoid mourning the loss of my trail legs.
~Allie
Image credits : Me, https://unsplash.com/@scw1217 https://unsplash.com/@isankku
