Cleanse yourself with nature

Living where I live I am in the privileged position to be 10 minutes from the sea and 30 minutes from the countryside, I feel like I can escape to either at a moment’s notice. This privilege I don’t take for granted. Sometimes me, Kerry, the girls and little nev the puppy will jump into the car and be on the beach playing in the waves and on the sand within 10 minutes, with flip flops and shorts, the girls jumping in the cold north sea, little nev playing with seaweed and rolling on the cold wet sand with Kerry watching and capturing the moments on her camera, truly enjoying the moments. When we have had enough and after the girls turn blue we walk back to the car in sandy bare feet and wrap  the girls in blankets ( because I always forget the towels) then home for a sink bath for nev and a towel dry ( after a quick shake) then everyone has a warm bath and into our lounge clothes. This is an amazing experience on a hot day (very rare in the north east of England) but even on a blustery day it is therapeutic to watch the force of the waves crashing against the rocks and the white foam ride into the shore like white horses with long manes, it makes you feel alive to know the forces of nature are this strong, it puts life into perspective; we are a very small part of a huge world.

We get the same feeling when we take a walk on the wild side (hey babe) we just jump into the car and open fields and forests are not far away , this is good if you have children that get car sick ( or just sick of cars) I get Kerry’s pram out ( I mean wheelchair) and we set off on the country paths that may lie about being wheelchair friendly, I feel like a fat kid at a disco by the time I have finished pushing; all panting and sweating.

But what we get for all of that effort is amazing views and a chance of meeting bunny rabbits, deer’s or squirrels taking a rare glimpse into their lives for a fleeting moment as we cross paths and stare at each other in wonderment ( I bet they think what is that sweaty beast! )

You can feel the energy that the forest gives to you as its guest and if you are quiet and still you can hear the fairies whispering in the wind and you can picture going back to bygone times fuelled by our imagination to how they lived in the forest and with nature.

Sometimes you see no-one for hours or you have no cell phone signal (such a good feeling) this helps you escape from your day to day life for a few hours, it feels like you just put a pause on your life and it is an amazing treat and we are sometimes sad to get into the car and return to the chaos of our lives; until the next time we escape!

Nature is a wonderful thing that is free ( apart from national trust properties) but it gives you an amazing feeling of well being so I encourage you to do it as many times as you can

Love nature my friends

John Atkin