Slight Detour: Nature's Gifts

Go outside.

Don’t tell anyone and don’t bring your phone.

Start walking and keep walking until you no longer know the road like the palm of your hand …

Just walk, see, sit down if you like. And be.

Just be, whatever you are with whatever you have, and realize that that is enough to be happy.

There’s a whole world out there, right outside your window.

You’d be a fool to miss it..

--Charlotte Eriksson

Sometimes, it's healthy to turn away from the troubles and turmoil of the world and tune in with the beauty and fragility of nature.

There are lessons to be learned and simple joy to be had.

💚💛💜💙

Our apples have passed the "juicy" test.

Sam and Danielle and members of their church family will be pressing apples into cider this week.

When their friend Nan invited us to take part, I told her we had a tree full of apples if they'd like to add them to the mix.

Danielle asked me via text what kind of apples they are.

"Unfortunately, I don't know," I texted back to her.

"That's okay, she said, indicating they would like to sample them to see it they were juicy enough.

So, they came yesterday. Each tried an apple, and soon Sam said they were, indeed, juicy and would make a nice addition to the apples they already have.

So, I'm told, some grandkids will come and pick them.

Soon thereafter, they'll become cider.

So happy to know that the apples, which have been keeping the deer happy, will also help out in the cider production.

🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

I have made some discoveries in our woods this week.

Bill had already done so and has been working slowly and methodically to deal with these discoveries.

With yard work and other fall projects around our yard and garden, winding down, my morning and afternoon walks have allowed me to walk through most of our woods where I hadn't gone since before our trip to Europe.

Seeing for myself the damage that was done during the freak wind storm in September almost took my breath away.

Bill had casually mentioned that a few trees went down, and another time, he suggested that there may even be enough for a load of logs.

After seeing some of these areas, especially those pictured below, I told Bill he'd better be extremely careful while trying to take care of the damage.

In fact, I suggested it may be wise to have a professional woods worker come in to take care of the extreme situations.

Sad how much can go wrong when Mother Nature's wrath takes over.