The Journey

Good morning to you all. It's journey day.

The weather is finally spring-like and really gorgeous. I have seen robins, blue jays, a bird of prey, squirrels (of course), a rabbit and other birds I don't know the name of yet.

Yesterday was the first afternoon I was able to sit out on the deck in the sun and be truly comfortable. The sun was warm and the breeze was almost balmy at times.

Today is supposed to be even warmer with the temperature going up to 20C apparently. I hope so. There is something so liberating about being outside. I actually woke up and felt expanded this morning. I felt, for the first time in months, that I'd really taken in some fresh, invigorating air. I think every cell in my body was saying thank you.

I think I am beginning to understand why nature and the outdoors has always been an inspiration to artists. The Group of Seven is an excellent example of how the Canadian landscape affected those artists. Many writers have been inspired by their surroundings as well. I remember reading Doris Lessing as a teenager and her descriptions of the veldt in Africa will stay with me forever. After I saw the film Out of Africa I understood why Doris had been so struck by the landscape and colours and sounds around her.

When I was a girl we went to Arizona for a family trip and the colours of the rocks and soil and the dry, oppressive heat of midday will stay with me forever as well. And the first time I drove into the Eastern Townships here in Quebec and saw the blankets of trees enveloping me from all angles I just knew I was home somehow.

As a child I spent a lot of time in Haliburton at a cottage on a lake and I think that experience changed how I viewed the outdoors. When we went there all routine ceased. We lounged, swam, laughed, sunbathed, lazed, rarely washed, became one with the scent of the firs and the earth and just experienced. I think I am coming back to that simplicity again. Maybe my new dog Zack has done that. Maybe walking with him and rubbing his belly and being covered in dog hair have taken me back to when only relationships and peace mattered. I really can't say, but I feel inspired by the coming spring and the birdsong and the tranquility all around me.