GENTRY — Although I don’t often wear T-shirts, I do have one favorite. It is a pale lavender Life is Good brand T-shirt with a small, simple mountain landscape drawing on the front. Underneath the sketch are just two words: “Get out.”
The shirt was a gift from one of my daughters, and I am glad she thought of me when she ran across it. The message bears especially good advice for this time of year, I think. There is no better time than now to “get out” and see what nature is offering.
Barring insurmountable obstacles of one sort or another, we’re doing ourselves a disservice if we let this gorgeous time of year pass without taking a look, as up-close as we can get, at Mother Nature’s latest show.
I keep track of what is happening at my place with a daily walk or two around my yard to check progress of my flower beds. This is nice, but what provides even more enjoyment is checking out things growing in the wild during this season of rebirth.
One recent afternoon, I had an opportunity to do this with a visit to Lake Wedington Recreational Area. I planned ahead and brought my camera and an extra. I grabbed my 12-year-old grandson Glendon, the young outdoorsman and budding photographer of the family, and we headed out as soon as we could get away after school.
Lake Wedington is located only a dozen or so miles from Siloam Springs on Highway 16 East and it offers some nice hiking trails, as well as many other things. With daylight now lasting longer, we had plenty of time to explore a portion of the trail around the lake and to stop as often as we wanted to take pictures.
Although we lost exact count, we found about 25 different plants and trees in bloom on this particular day. We sighted other neat things as well.Turtles sunned on logs along the lake, and large fish swam near the surface of the water - something that especially excited my young companion. At one point, we walked up on a blue heron that hid on the bank at the water’s edge. We spotted it only after it took off in flight just a few feet from us.
The evening sun highlighted the fresh green of the forest and backlit the many dogwood trees in full bloom. Our nice, fun, refreshing little outing made me hope everyone who is able is taking opportunities to enjoy the outdoors thistime of year.
Even as I write this, I am watching a forecast that includes rain. By the time this makes it to print, it may be too wet to take a hike.
But, the sun will follow the rain and there will be more neat things to see. There is something about spending time in nature that soothes the soul, especially now, with the awakening of life and the beauty and freshness of springtime.
We are doing ourselves a favor if we take time to “get out” and enjoy the gifts being offered us. Better yet, take a kid along!
Annette Rowe is a freelance writer from rural Gentry and a speech-language pathologist at Siloam Springs High School. She may be reached by email at [email protected].
Opinion, Pages 6 on 04/11/2012