#forest bath

Accidental meditation

I procured no venison Wednesday - the first day of Michigan's archery deer season - but had the high privilege of witnessing the birth of a new day from the perspective of my tree stand.

And what a birth it was ... These early days of October have been nothing less than stunning. A little too warm for hunting, maybe - especially for those of us who butcher our own game - but perfect for full immersion.

It's a Japanese concept: shinrin yoku, which literally translates to "forest bath." It's simply being present in the woods - in the company of things that grow wild.

Health researchers tell us that just simply being in the leafy natural world promotes the physical and mental health of us overly civilized humans.

I became aware of the term "shinrin yoku" only a few years ago, but have sensed it all along. Deer hunting - particularly archery hunting - requires stillness. Automatically breathing slows, senses tune in to the sights, smells and sounds of the natural world. The mind clears; tension melts away.

~

scent of pine

not much i can call "mine"

but this —

an interlude of simple peace

in a holy place

made of bark and leaves

~

Who's who

I was in my tree stand one recent evening, deep into a soothing forest bath.

Suddenly the squirrels bickering over the acorns on the ground beneath me went silent. A dark shape swooped in among the the twilight shadows and landed on the branch of a maple 10 yards from my nose.

A great horned owl - the one, I asssume, I had heard who-whooing in our woodlot all summer, but never saw. In fact, I can count on one hand the times i've seen an owl in the wild. That's no big surprise since they work the night shift.

There was no chance for photo in the murky light, so I just sat there and enjoyed the sight.

Selective hearing

I got in a rejuvenating forest bath Sunday morning, but the woods were anything but quiet. Peaceful, but not quiet.

Black walnuts, in their plum-size husks, were thump-thumping on the ground; acorns were ping-pinging off branches on their way to earth; turkeys were clucking and gobbling; squirrels were chattering and squeaking ...

Voices I couldn't identify joined the chorus, none of which bothered the does that moseyed past my tree-stand.

It was a lesson in selective hearing. The noises that put me, with my untuned ears, on high alert, were ignored by the deer. Yet, the tiny click of my crossbow safety sent two of them into startled flight.

Traveling light

It occurs to me that I never followed up on my adventure in cubism - my attempt to squeeze 18 days worth of clothing/electronics/toiletries, etc., into carry-on luggage, for our recent U.K. trip.

I'm here to tell you it can be done. And my skepticism about the packing cubes Sharon brought home - "How can more be less?" - was unfounded. Not only do they compress your clothing into smaller bundles, they help keep it organized throughout your trip.