Outskirts of a Tropical Storm

Outskirts of a tropical storm: 

outskirts of a tropical storm this morning, just the edge making its way here, but it's enough to make for miserable conditions on my predawn walk. There won't be owls to track this morning, doubtful I'll find fox prowling or deer waking for their early graze. But there'll be nature in its fierce show, steady rain and forceful wind. I'll take it all in, it's a short walk, a few miles, and it's not for me to choose the right conditions, walking only when the weather suits my mood or preference. 

I walk to place myself in the thick of nature. 

even in the suburbs.

and the outskirts of a tropical storm. 

I don't take storms lightly, not even being on the edge of one, as I damage they may cause and the loss they often bring. I'm fortunate to live in an area of relative safety, to a secure home, and that I will be warm when I return home. There are many who don't enjoy this same good fortune and I take my steps with this awareness in mind. This walk will bring me to focus on all I should be grateful for and yet so often take for granted. It's a luxury, even as it's needed for my peace of mind, that these early morning walks return me to my own essential nature, healing me, quieting my mind. 

and yet my heart goes out to those who suffer who suffer the effects of this storm, to those who don't have the same luxury of returning to a safe and warm home. 

this walk reminds me that I'm fortunate indeed. 

 so I step outside, it's only a few miles, not far from home and I have a suburban landscape that threads through a wilderness of streams, ponds, and scattered woods. I find nature just by stepping from my door, waiting for me, greeting me this morning with wind and rain. It's not my preference, but than I never really get to choose, only to accept whatever nature offers me. 

right now, 

it's the outskirts of a tropical storm. 

and I accept it all.

~

Peace, Eric