Nature Unplugged

I am an early riser; as part of my own "anchor to my day", I like to take a daily walk with my dog. This is often quite early in the morning, "dawn's first light" type of early, and I am pretty good about ignoring the phone in my pocket. I have come to observe over the years that my walk is always where I do my best thinking and I notice things that I would not have paid attention to had I been plugged in. In the spring for example, the predominant noise in the air are the birds, vocalizing their praises to the warmer sun, and yet this time of year, all I can hear are the crickets. Curious as to why, I googled "what is the meaning of crickets chirping?" and I have now learned that it is only the males who chirp as a mating ritual. I guess they are expecting a long, hard winter. :) There are times when my day seems overwhelming in front of me and so beyond my better judgement,  I pull that darn phone out of my pocket and fire off some texts or answer some emails. I can't recall a time when I didn't regret that decision as I come back from my walk much preoccupied and far from feeling peaceful. And so, I have pledged to myself to "be in nature unplugged," to give myself the gift of contentedness, and reflective thought to begin my day. At the very minimum, I can at least give those crickets the audience they deserve. Photo credit: http://Photo by Joseph Barrientos on Unsplash