Summer used to be my favorite season: trips to the seaside or Lake Tahoe, sunshine, the beach, shorts and tank tops. But these days, I dread summer. In the desert, even the high-desert, it is oppressive: biting gnats swarming every time I go outside; fires blazing too close to my home, humidity in July and August that saps my energy. I retreat into the cooling arms of my home’s blessed and much appreciated air conditioning. The shades are drawn when the sun’s heat starts penetrating through the windows, and it becomes a cave-like existence. I love my private time, my uninterrupted daily life, but this takes it to the extreme and, after a couple of months I feel isolated.
It is now monsoon season in Northern Arizona and lightning and thunder crack and roll around the heavens, frequently without forcing a drop of rain, but last night we had a tremendous storm! Rain pummeled the roof, the windows, everything for hours! It was thrilling. And this morning I took a walk in 64 degrees of fresh, verdant, cloud-streaked valley, meeting several friends and neighbors. ”Susan, isn’t this weather beautiful?,” one neighbor says with a huge grin on his face.
“Oh, yes,” I say, “And only two more months until fall!”
“Yes, I’m with you there!” he says.
Another friend, her eyes sparkling, “Wow! How gorgeous it is this morning! The rain was extraordinary last night!”
Another, dressed up and ready to go, “Did’ya hear that rain? Maybe we’ll get another one today…” she says scanning the sky.
I arrived home feeling joyous and grateful about something as ordinary–yet impacting–as the weather. Feeling re-united with friends, community, the outside world. And excited to tell you about it!
Julia Cameron says that taking a walk can clear your mind, your heart, your attitude, your anything! Can inspire you to begin a creative endeavor, to find solutions to creative blocks of any kind as complex as the ending to your novel, as simple as what to make for dinner. I find it to be true.
Take a walk all for yourself as soon as you can!
Love,
Susan
