the way out here

Take a moment

By HUNTER HILL
Posted 9/30/20

Before you read this, I invite you to find a comfy chair and get comfortable. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

It’s been quite a year to say the least. Every so often, I forget about everything …

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the way out here

Take a moment

Posted

Before you read this, I invite you to find a comfy chair and get comfortable. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

It’s been quite a year to say the least. Every so often, I forget about everything that has been going on and get sucked into another daily trouble. Now, before you think me a worrisome ball of nerves, what I mean is simply that, like most folks, my focus can become tunnel-vision, and from that tunnel vision comes the feeling that it all hangs on that one thing.

If you’re reading this anywhere in the Delaware River region, you will know that we recently got a very abrupt nip in the heels by the colder weather that looms ever-nearer. In the midst of construction on our chicken houses and other preparations for next year’s growing season, it was enough to spook me into a few days of high-gear manual labor. After a double handful of splinters and a couple new blood-blisters, I finally slowed down long enough to think about the situation.

Take a moment. Close your eyes and think about the season we are heading into.

In my haste to finish the ever-mounting list of warm-weather responsibilities, I had forgotten to look at the big picture. It’s easy to think the snow is just around the corner. Yes, I said snow—it has its purposes, too, you know. But it isn’t here yet, and despite everyone rumoring in hushed and, in my opinion, pessimistic tones that it will be an extra-cold winter, the fall season is only just now upon us. This is the season that folks move to this country for—the time when the air is crisp, but not yet harshly cold. This is the time when the apples are ready for the picking after sweetening on the first hard frost. This is the time when hunters begin to get excited about the majority of seasons opening soon and lasting through the holidays. And in this time, when there are so many natural things to enjoy about the outdoors, there is one more we can take solace in, and that is that nearly all of these blessings can be savored despite the ongoing pandemic.

So, as you sit and read this, I hope you’ve found that comfy chair and taken off that stuffy mask; if you’re outside, perhaps in a rocker or porch swing, even better. Personally, I prefer to spend time leading up to the hunting season in my tree stand. The work will never end, and I find comfort in knowing that the fall, despite being potentially shorter than years past, will still provide me a few weeks of transitional weather to not only get the individual projects done but to also take these freeing moments to sit and enjoy the autumn air.

Take that moment to be still. Listen in a way that cannot be done the rest of the year. I’m not any kind of scientist, but I’m convinced you can hear just a little bit deeper, see just a little bit clearer, and feel with an enhanced awareness the trees and plant life that surround us in the fall.

The way out here, most of us aren’t rich with lavish mansions and expensive belongings, but we all have access to the blessings laid out by God. The way out here, we accept these blessings, sometimes even at the cost of more opulent lifestyles.

So, if you find yourself out here, take a moment. Inhale the majesty of creation. Relish the scents and scenery. Take your spouse for a walk and say nothing. Stroll through the woods and find a blown-down log with the perfectly grown sloping trunk to facilitate a lounge chair. Remember what is so special about this place out here where we live. Where we truly live.

Delaware River, fall, nature, relax, pause

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