When I was a kid, we had a huge enclosed front yard. In the summer, it was my happy place. I usually walked bare feet in the grass. The yard had a beautiful garden surrounding it and depending on where you were in the garden, you would get the scent of roses or peonies, the smell of the sunshine kissing the ripening tomatoes, the smell of herbs, the grass – it all just was comforting. We now refer to it as nature bathing. But for me, there was an instinctive need to feel a part of nature, which nourished me. It was listening and responding to my inner instinct.

Growing up, my parents insisted that notwithstanding the temperatures outside, we had to spend time outside – either walking along the lake, or at a park, or on a bike ride. In the cold winter, we would go to Centennial Park, because the greenhouse there, would give us a reprieve from the cold before we could drink some hot tea my mom had packed in the thermos.

Today, we are very fortunate to live in an area, where we are surrounded by trails through various greenspaces. And even though we had a sudden change in the temperature this past week-end, and even though we were all tired from hosting Thanksgiving at our house, on Monday, we decided to go for a walk along a new trail 5 minutes away from our house.

My girls and I walked at a more sedate pace, keeping my husband and son in our sight. We took in the changing leaves and kicked them while we walked. We talked about what we are grateful for in our lives and we shared little updates with one another. The colours, the smells, the company – it was all blissful.

At the start of the trail, there were many paths that we could take. As we stood there, pondering our course, the perfect poem popped in my mind and stayed with me for the entire walk:

The Road Not Taken 

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken

BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

I feel as I am approaching a certain milestone age in my life, that this poem resonates more with me, than when I first read it.

It was a perfect way, to end a long week-end, full of family time and full of great memories.

But that’s just one Diva’s view.

#Thanksgiving #nature #newpath