Back to nature...

We went camping this past weekend at Panther Creek campground just outside of Carson, Washington. A good time was had by all and the kids did really well with fun in the outdoors, even though they both had colds. I hadn't been camping since Lexi was 5 months old - too long ago if you ask me!

I have never really been a "nature lover" per se - in fact, I used to think that my dad tortured me by making me go camping and hiking when I was younger. (Actually, it wasn't the camping that was torturous...it was the hiking for miles, uphill both ways, with no snacks in sight that was the hard part!) But in my old age, I have come to appreciate the outdoors a little bit more. I still don't like bugs, sleeping on the ground in a deflated air mattress or having to go to the bathroom in the dead of night knowing that there's deadly wildlife just waiting to pounce out of every bush to eat me alive. But I do love me some 'smores......mmmmmmm...

I digress - bottom line is this: I remember after a particularly long and grueling hike with my dad in Yosemite asking him why he liked it there so much. He told me that it "put things in perspective" for him. That seeing all the grandeur of nature in that way reminded him of how insignificant we are as human beings. I may not have said anything at the time, but that stuck with me.

I realized this weekend that it has been far too long since I "changed perspectives". In the chaos and craziness of the past few years, I forgot to look at things in a different way. My life had gotten a little too small and a lot too predictable. It was nice to get a refreshing look at things and to be reminded again of how small we all are in the grand scheme of things.

Who knows...I may end up being a nature lover after all. Keep your hopes up, Dad!!