In Phoenix, beautiful days are more common than ugly ones. In the fall, winter, and spring you can play all day most of the time. The temperatures are moderate and you probably won’t get rained on. The summertime is a different animal, but even then people usually find a way to get outside in the morning or after the sun goes down. (Fun fact: that’s one of the reasons Arizona doesn’t spring forward or fall back with the rest of the country. Who in Phoenix would want an hour MORE sunlight?)
One of the differences I noticed when I moved to Ohio is that Ohioans don’t take beautiful days for granted. In the summer, hot and humid days can overwhelm you. In the winter, sometimes the cold temperatures or bitter wind keeps you inside. If you throw in a hundred days of precipitation every year, suddenly you find that maybe only about a third of days are truly great for outdoor activities.
Since living in Ohio doesn’t create the same opportunities, people jump on any chance they get to enjoy. In Cincinnati, on a nice October or November day you might not get to park in the regular zoo parking lot. In fact, you might not get to park in the second lot. I’m sometimes thankful to be able to make it into the overflow lot. We once had to park in a parking garage a mile away at the University of Cincinnati!
When I finished jogging around the neighborhood this morning, I stopped to stretch. It was quieter than usual, which isn’t surprising considering we are to stay at home unless we leave for essential reasons. (Exercise is considered essential just for the record.) It was a beautiful morning, with a few birds chirping and the sun just barely trying to peek out through the clouds. It was one of those fantastic mornings that just sticks with you all day.
It was then that I began to wonder if people are appreciating it today, or for that matter, if they did back long ago. When these beautiful mornings happened in the 1930s and people were struggling through one of the hardest times our country ever experienced, did they still cherish the chirping birds and sunshine? I have a feeling they did. When we were in war in the 1940s, did the people at home still experience stillness? I hope so. It was powerful to me, and it made me stop to enjoy the fact that even with all the awful news circulating, we still have the beautiful days. If you stay inside and watch the news (I am guilty as charged), you might miss it.
Everyone is dealing with different levels of stress, anxiety, and health thanks to the coronavirus, so please understand that my suggestions to go outside are simply that. I don’t say that to be judgmental to people who can’t bring themselves to go outside or people who physically can’t. I was simply wondering how many people in Cincinnati are actually cherishing this dry, mild, quiet morning. This city is so good at that, and I hope the “new normal” doesn’t involve missing out.
Maybe for you it’s not the great outdoors. It could be that first cup of coffee and the fifteen minutes of quiet before your kids wake up. It might be the hug or kiss goodnight you get from your spouse. Is it a quiet prayer around the dinner table? There’s something simple and beautiful in your life somewhere. If you’re like me, sometimes you get too busy to find it or appreciate it. I was so glad to find one of mine today and it helped my attitude a ton this morning.
This rough time for the world can be a huge challenge, but there’s beauty out there somewhere. I hope you find it today.