This morning I bundled up and went for a walk. It's only -4C, so compared to the -15C we've had for the last while, it's feeling quite lovely out there. Really!
I think I like to be outdoors more than I consciously think I do. I spend most of my day in my home office, which is currently operating out of my bedroom. I have friends staying with me until they relocate to a new house in a different city, so my usual "office" has been converted into a bedroom. So given the fact that I spend most of my workday in this room, plus at least 7or 8 hours per night (9 if I'm really lucky!) sleeping in this same room, I think it's accurate to say that perhaps I'm developing a bit of cabin fever.
So getting out for a walk is particularly refreshing and invigorating these days. Out in the wide open air, the wide open spaces of the outdoors feels particularly freeing. I went on another walk last week too, and both that time and this morning as I was nearing my return home, I felt the desire to just lie down outside in the snow for a while. Just to lay there and breathe it all in.
Now, when you're a kid, nobody questions if they see you lying in the snow staring at the sky above you. They assume you're playing some game, or off in some imaginary world, and that's ok for kids. But seeing a full-grown adult lying in the snow, passers-by would be more apt to dial 911 thinking maybe you're the victim of a heart attack. Adults just don't lie down outdoors. Unless it's summer of course, and you're sprawled out on a blanket under a tree enjoying the warm breeze across your face. But in the middle of winter, it just looks weird. I couldn't even go into my backyard really, because there is enough snow that it's blocking the opening and closing of my gates. Besides, if any neighbour of mine happened to peer out their window and saw me lying in the middle of my backyard in the middle of winter, they may still call 911. Which I guess I'm grateful for, but that still didn't solve my dilemma of where the heck I was going to lay down outside.
On last week's walk, since it was night time, I settled for the walkway at the side of my house that leads to my backyard. I live in one of those new subdivisions where there's only about five feet between houses anyway, so in the dark I was far enough back on the path that nobody from the street could really see me, and my neighbours don't have any windows on that side of their house that they could see me out of. So I figured I was safe. And it was fantastic! Sheltered from the wind in the narrow space between the homes, I could lay there, bundled up as I was in my winter gear, and just enjoy breathing in the fresh air and staring up at the cloudy sky. This morning, I was walking on a path in my neighbourhood that borders a wide-open field, and there was a snow bank border from the plough that cleared the path, so I took a chance on the 911 potential and sat down, leaning up against the snow bank, to stare out over the field. At least sitting up doesn't look as weird as lying flat-out on the field.
But it made me think that I should shop for some kind of outdoor hammock for my backyard. One whose fabric won't deteriorate in the snow and ice, and I'd have to store it or shelter it between uses to keep it from collecting a ton of snow on it. Having it break under the weight of the snow would kind of defeat the purpose. But I'd really love to be able to bundle up in the winter and just hang out outside, without necessarily having to DO something (like walk, ski, sled, shovel the driveway). I like doing all that other stuff, but sometimes I'd like just to take in the fresh air, listen to the sound of the wind moving through the trees and feel the gentle peace and stillness and life there is outside, even in the winter. I could have some kind of blanket out there; maybe a bearskin (even though the idea of animal pelts kind of creeps me out). But being outdoors in winter does, for me, conjure up images of our native ancestors, so a bearskin is just more fitting than my Coleman sleeping bag.
Ah yes, a winter hammock. I think I shall add it to my shopping list.
top of page
bottom of page