Forest Bathing

Green space and immersion in nature is so important to mental health, and so I feed sanity as well as creativity by getting outside, whether beach or forest or a park even in the suburbs or a metropolis like NYC. I had forgotten the wonderment of fire flies in my youth on the East coast until three years ago, when traipsing back to Brooklyn after hearing opera in Central Park, night fell and flickering lights rose through dark shadows and gray dusk. My friends, Meral and Kat had never seen fireflies, and it was wonderful to re-live one of my childhood memories through their eyes. I don’t live in an evergreen state high up in the Pacific Northwest, but I am fortunate that the Bay Area does have some of the most beautiful natural settings.                                   

Yesterday I ranged further than my 5-mile loop into the Jepson Laurel part of the trail. It’s so bizarre to encounter a pay phone and bike station as well as picnic tables after three and a half miles of just deer and trees and water views.          

                            

And it made sense when I read the park information signs.                      

Back to trail this morning, and one of these runs will someday be all the way to the Millbrae end of the trail.