The Greenest White

When i was SMALL i loved being outside.  Even though we always had a computer, and of course videos to watch, music to listen to and various toys to play with; if i could i'd always choose outside over ALL of those things.  There was much more adventure to be had and i loved to feel the air in my lungs, and to feel completely and TOTALLY tired out from running, and running in the green:  Feeling as if my lungs might just pop but to still keep on going.  Then i hit puberty and hid away for most of the time.  I spent my time slamming cupboard doors, playing loud music and having too many opinions i was sure were right when they were often on things i knew nothing about.   *  *  *   Now it's all gone full circle.  Now i can't IMAGINE being indoors always.  In fact, as tired as i can sometimes be - from work or just life itself, if i am cooped up inside for too long i start to go a little bit mad.  Sometimes if i am feeling restless, moody, snappy or just unsettled - i go for a walk.  If i'm feeling really restless i ride that bike of mine like my life DEPENDS on it.  I pedal hard and fast and make my little heart beat so fast in my chest that it feels as if it might just pop.  And even if it's just for a short half hour, i feel better.  Calm is restored and whatever wasn't right inside me, just is again.  Lately i have been DRINKING up the first signs of green shoots.  This time of year is one of my very favourites.  It feels as if the world is waking up all over again - and green flashes peppered with such pretty, soft and beautiful flakes of snow warms my heart in a way that feels like a bit of a contradiction.  Getting out when i can has been my top priority of late.

  Dustings of frost to full on snow:  If i can't ride that bike then i have been WALKING around and about our pretty city.  Balancing precariously as i go - penguin walking with my arms out for extra balance and my toes taking the tiniest of careful steps.  Progress is SLOW.  But i've been taking different routes home, exploring strange streets and admiring different doors and gardens.  

When the sun is KIND enough to melt away my crispy mornings, i've hopped on those two wheels.  I've driven just a little slower, slow enough to notice things:  Green shoots peeking cheekily from beneath the under-growth and velvet green moss carpeting tree trunks.  Ivy twists and twirls around trees dancing in early morning sunlight and even just LOOKING at it makes me feel better:  Energised, hopeful and excited for a new season.

I visited my parents in BEAUTIFUL Scotland.  We took that cheeky spaniel puppy (not pictured - ever.  Have you ever tried to take a picture of a spaniel?  Still is not a word they understand very well!) for late afternoon walks up hills, along rivers and through the most dense and MAGICAL forests and it was just perfect.  I tagged behind a bit - in awe each time we turned a corner:  camera out, camera in - out, in, out and in.  
You should never FORGET outside, never ever take outside for granted because sometimes it just takes my breath clean away.  Everyone should get to feel that deep in their heart.  I think it could be one of my very favourite things in the whole WORLD.