Sorry. But when nature calls, nature calls.
Nokosee and I joke that Haalie, our little girl, was conceived in the trees, probably a gumbo limbo, our go-to tree for lovemaking because of its strong branches and its tendency not to sway-- although banyan trees are more fun because of their swaying , catapulting is no fun and hard on the ass and head (I have been knocked bonkers more than once in a banyan, a tree I started climbing and wasting away my summer days as a child).
Well, enough on our arboreal lovemaking, let's talk "forest bathing" which brought me to this post-- via a fond memory or two. Wink, wink.
Forest Bathing is a Japanese thing (Shinrin-Yoku). It's basically a walk in the woods while paying attention to what you see (mindfulness)-- instead of thinking about how you're going to pay your taxes or, as in our case, how you're going to avoid confronting big bad Uncle Sam one more day.
But I digress. I believe everyone should take a walk in the woods as Thoreau suggested about a hundred-and-sixty years ago (“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees”). Bill Bryson appropriated that line for the title of his best-selling book and later movie starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. And I'm here to tell you that it works. A little more meandering through a forest is a great way to renew the spirit-- as long as you come out the other side ready to fight for Gaia. Otherwise, it's just another form of self indulgence.