Be embraced

It's where I find peace, a better version of myself, distance from the pressures of life and time to think. The forest, local gardens, the beach...places where birds sing as they flit from branch to branch; it makes me wish I was one of them, their lives seem so uncomplicated and being able to fly would be amazing.

Or maybe I'd be a squirrel racing from place to place with industrious intent, darting here and there with quick movements stopping only to pick up some food I'd found to store away for the winter. I'm not sure I could deal with all the fur, but with careful grooming I would probably make it work.

I can't be a bird though, and it's unlikely I'll ever wake up in a tree as a squirrel, but I can find nature, natural places, and be within it and be embraced

I recently found myself in a pine forest, a clear blue day but cool in the shade; it wasn't by accident.

I walked for an hour the needle covered ground dampening the sound of my hiking boots on the ground, its layers masking that I'd even been there, the breeze caused the trees to sing a soft whistling music that might have been eerie at night but was beautiful and calming during the sunlit day. I felt like the only person for miles but wasn't.

I sat, my back resting against the trunk of a tree and as the person I was walking with sank beside me a sense of calm settled over me, over us, and without words we opened ourselves to our surroundings enjoying the simple pleasure of nature, the tranquillity, togetherness and how the world seemed to wrap itself around us in a welcoming embrace. It was a lovely moment.

My eyes closed and I slept, minutes only, and when I woke...I wasn't a bird or a squirrel, but I knew what it was like to be embraced by nature.