For this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge, Ann asks us to consider how we relax when it’s time to unwind.
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?
– W.H.Davies
For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
– Wendell Berry
There is no question that relaxation is important, more often than not. If we do not take the time to unwind now and then, well, “What is this life…?” For me, the ultimate (and necessary) form of relaxation is being outdoors among nature.
The feature image above, and to the left, is “Girl Rejoicing in the Summer Outdoors.”
What better way to spend a summer day than lazily rowing (or kayaking) on a lake in summer?
Or taking a road trip, wandering, with no set destination or time frame, just taking in the countryside. This roadside scene in New Mexico provides many pleasures for the eye.
Any place in the mountains is a good spot for me, inspiring restful thoughts, contemplating the magnificence of nature.
This scene is in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California. It’s midsummer. Shot at about 4,500 feet above sea level.
From the mountains to the sea… This is the Pacific Ocean coast in California’s Big Sur wilderness. The Big Sur inspires resfullness, admiring the geography of the California Coast and noting that such wonderful wilderness areas still exist in the US.
This is the lake in Bruce Park, Greenwich, CT. The spot is so appealing… You can lie on the grass and feel the quiet air and the aromas of nature flow around you. Or you can sit lakeside and admire the birds, the ducks, and the egrets and even an occasional bird of prey. Or stroll lazily lakeside.
This place is custom-made for sitting and dreaming among tall trees and the lush vegetation. It’s in the woods in North Stamford, CT.
To close, imagine walking a path through swampy lowland literally surrounded by thick vegetation. The mind wanders as you make your way. You think that Eden must have been this lush.
That’s it for me this week. Next week it will be Egidio’s turn for a challenge. Until then, have a good (and peaceful) week.
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
-Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild Things
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