Like many of my good friends, I am an unabashed tree hugger. I love the natural world and wish it well.
And as you probably know from either our acquaintance or your reading this blog, I love going to see beautiful land-, sea-, and mountain-scapes. They lift my spirits and touch me in ways I can’t always explain. I want to be inside these beautiful places and just be. Soak ‘em up, so to speak, to sustain me when I get back home.
I’m a bit of a walker, not so much a hiker these days. But I am, unquestionably a GREAT sitter. The picture here is of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, where Cindy Lou and I have spent a few spring break weeks. She can’t wait to get out in the sun and begin the process that darkens her skin into a lovely tan. Me? I love sitting on the balcony of the condo looking down at the sun worshipers with my poetry notebook and a cold Corona at the ready. Beach walks before breakfast and after dinner fill out the day for the both of us.
And now, it would seem, researchers have determined that just five minutes a day in the great outdoors can improve one’s self esteem and mental health. Just being out there makes a difference in our heads. Ride a bike along the river. Take a walk in a park. Dig in your garden. Sit out on your back porch and meditate. All these things have been proven to boost a person’s mood.
The research from the University of Essex in the UK says the benefits of spending time outdoors is not new, but the time needed for personal benefits to show -- just five minutes -- is the newest piece in the mental health puzzle. I mean, five minutes. The study included looking at a wide array of outdoor activities, including walking, gardening, cycling, fishing, boating, horse riding, and farming.
Good stuff, don’t you think? Undoubtedly. I hope we’ll all take this study to heart and get outside more often. It will be good for our heads.
I could have selected any of a number of pictures from the personal portfolio to accompany this blog entry, but I thought a shot of the lovely white sand of Fort Walton Beach the best choice. Why? Well, because this lovely place is in danger of being trashed by the uncapped seafloor oil gusher emanating from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico that today threatens not only Louisiana and Mississippi wetlands, but the vacation beaches of Alabama and Florida. Yesterday it was proposed that the oil could even catch currents that would take it around the Florida peninsula and up the Atlantic coast. Let’s hope not. Still, it is a possibility. How long will it take BP to stop the flow? Three months? Goodness. That’s a lot of oil.
So I am torn today. Yes, I drive to Florida. Yes, I am a user of refined petroleum. Yes, I love the beach. Yes, I love shrimp cocktail. And, yes, my heart breaks for the lives torn asunder by this oil disaster. It won’t be just vacationers whose plans will change if the beaches are covered in oil, but the countless families who make a living in the Gulf. Fisherfolk. Shrimpers. Shop owners. Restauranteurs.
Is it possible the oil slick could be worse for the Gulf than Hurricane Katrina? Some folks think so. And that truly hurts my heart. Talk about the lack of green -- or blue -- space impacting one’s mental health? Birds. Fish. Sea turtles. People. Oh, my.
Today’s elder idea: Dana Powell expects at least some lost business at her Paradise Inn in Pensacola Beach, Florida, and could see a different type of guest altogether: Instead of families boating, parasailing, and fishing, workers on cleanup crews will probably be renting her rooms. “They won’t be having as much fun,” she said, “but they might be buying more liquor at the bar, because they’ll be so depressed.”
from an Associated Press report today, 4 May 2010
picture: Santa Rosa Island, behind the Nautilus condo, Fort Walton Beach FL (2003)
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