Clean Living

Let the clean air blow the cobwebs from your body. Air is medicine – Lillian Russell (1862-1922)

An untarnished mountain sky creates a brilliant blue backdrop.

We had planned on taking a trip to the mountains this weekend. Then it snowed. We considered canceling our trip. Instead we talked to several people in the area and found out the roads were fairly clear with the exception of black ice on back roads. We decided to take our chances, and I’m glad we did.

The farther we got away from city lights the brighter the sky appeared. Stars sparkled across the sky like Christmas lights. The moon shone and reflected the snowy mountains. It appeared as if the world was swaddled in a purple blanket. Perhaps it was the lack of street lights or perhaps it can be attributed to clean living. In remote areas of low pollution the dark world lights up beneath a heavenly glow.

The next day we went for a short hike. The sky was a brilliant blue and the air crisp and clean.  My lungs couldn’t inhale quickly or deeply enough. The woods untrodden, our feet drew designs across the silky white screen throughout the woods.

Could this stone be Mother Nature’s footprint?

The creek water poured clear over the mossy rocks and danced through the woody banks. I thought about the cleanness of my childhood. My youth consisted of unpolluted skies and unadulterated waters. I had no idea how lucky I was to have 230 acres plus of land and water to explore…and to think I sometimes complained of boredom!

Moss growing on rocks of a small waterfall.

I am ever so grateful to grow up in a clean environment and experience the arts of nature. Every day the creek symphony played for me. Many a time when I felt invisible I listened to the gurgles, splashes, and hums of the stream, and every single time I heard the voice within speak to me. These words formed poetry and sustained me. Every direction I looked I witnessed the masterpieces of the greatest artist of all. In the large view green and grey mountains blended to blue clouded sky. Close ups included velvet moss, spiked ferns, wild black-eyed Susans, acorns, whippoorwills, and crawfish. I roamed the land of plenty, and though materially I didn’t have much I had plenty. I learned there is no art form more beautiful or powerful than what nature provides.

The sun melted the snow from this mossy hillside.

I have been blessed with all the elements of clean living, and I am ever so grateful.

I bent down and found this heart among the rocks of the creek bed. Perhaps I’d left it behind…

Spin Cycle: Clean