I must work in these conditions

Even if I don't always like it

Indian Kill Nature Preserve, Glenville, NY

Forest ambience is magic. Each patchwork texture of the backcountry filters the sun in its own way, cloaking the earth’s alchemy in a quilt of light and shadow. And in turn, it cloaks you — Filling your eyes, warming your skin, perfuming the air with lightly baking bark and bright green oxygen.

I miss those days this time of year, when the earth is frozen, the trees bare, and the sun blinding as it reflects off the snow — if the sun’s out at all.

But I won’t just stay home and wait for the forest to be just as I might prefer it.

I’d miss the purples and blues of a sub-zero sky. I’d miss the gentle flurries. I’d miss how the snow crunches beneath my feet, and how it nearly buries the trees as you make your way to a summit.

I’ve got to find the good in these days.

“But why not just stay home where it’s safe and comforting until it’s warm again?” you might ask. And I’d understand if you did.

Well, because…”safe and comforting” is not the place where growth happens. Out there is. Just like those trees, and plants, and fungi, and forest animals. Everything grows out there. And to grow on the inside, you’ve got to get outside. Out of that comfort zone.

Find the good, even when conditions are less than ideal. That forest magic will be back before you know it.