Natural Connection Sunday

It's Sunday morning, the sun is shining in the sky and I have a visit from a niece at home. I get up early with a frown on my face, as my idea the night before was to get up very late, "I'll see myself on Monday without wanting to listen to the alarm clock" I said to myself, however the day was so beautiful that the frown quickly ceased and a second cup of coffee made its appearance.

I have a pre-teen daughter. She's at an age where it's a bit difficult to detach her from screens, and although she doesn't use social media, always the mobile phone becomes a huge source of distraction-addiction. That's why I wanted to invite both her and her niece for a walk in a little mountain behind the buildings where I live.

Living in a mountainous area has some privileges that it is sad not to take advantage of. Beautiful pine trees, bushes, little flowers, and a cool climate that invites you to keep going. But I had a hard time convincing them. "It's hot" "And what are we going to do there" "And if we go another day" They both answered me, but I insisted.

In the afternoon, when the sun started to go down, we left the house. It is a climb that manages to offer us some views of the city and further up, small woods that make you forget that you are in a totally urban environment and that you live between concrete walls.

We started walking between the buildings, and then along a path that took us through the forest, enjoying the sound of the birds that were still around, the crunching of the leaves under our feet and the occasional canine grace that we had to dodge.

I noticed that the girls started to enjoy themselves as soon as they stopped asking "How much further" and I caught them enjoying the breeze and the panoramic views of the surrounding landscape. We reached a peak where we could see the whole forest between the buildings.

It was inevitable that they took out their phones, but this time it was to take pictures of the place, of the sun going down, and to try to capture some strange birds that we heard but couldn't get to see.

I live in a privileged area, I once had a small owl in my bedroom window as a visitor, which we took and left among the trees. Whenever I go for a walk I always look through the trees to see if I can see it, so far, it has been unsuccessful...

On the way down I heard them laughing. When we got home we drank lemonade and each one of us went to take a shower. It was only a few kilometres covered, but the natural contact offers something that no video game or screen can give us, it is relaxation, it is contemplation, it is connection with ourselves, it is conscious breathing...

I'm sure both my daughter and niece enjoyed the afternoon, I love the idea that they can learn to enjoy the simple and natural.