Although I live in paradise on the farm, sometimes it’s important to leave the farm, to spend an afternoon all alone.
Sometimes I need to spend time in mother nature, to re-charge my batteries. To amp myself up for an afternoon of chopping firewood.
So, I grab my camera bag and some other essentials and throw them in the truck.
I start the engine.
My dog, Ollie, follows me outside.
“Up, up,” I command, opening the back door for him and ushering him into the back seat.
He follows suit and sits down.
I get in and buckle up. I put on whatever I’m listening to; my favourite album or a new podcast, and we drive.
We drive to a specific destination that we know and love.
We drive to a destination we’ve never explored before.
My favourite song comes on and I crank it, singing along as loud as I can. No one (except Ollie) is listening.
We arrive at our destination, wherever that is.
Ollie hops out and I let him follow his nose for a while.
We walk around, there’s nothing but time.
Time to think about everything or nothing at all. Time to wander, to be curious at my own pace. Time to admire nature’s beauty, vast landscapes and tiny streams. Time to be quiet. Time to take a picture. Hell, there’s time to take 100 pictures.
I write in my journal. I read a chapter. I swim in the lake. I talk to the dog.
“It’s nice out isn’t it, peppers?” I ask.
He never responds.
I watch him sniff and play, not worried about anything or anyone. I decide he’s got the right idea.
I feel the earth below me. I feel the breeze and the sky above me.
I feel the tension slowly release from various parts of my body.
I breathe. I stretch. I dance. I run.
There’s nothing but time.
“Be a loner. That gives you time to wonder, to search for the truth.” – Albert Einstein
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