This past December and early January my family met at the Morton Arboretum for a Covid safe hike. We met in Mother Nature’s family room where we didn’t have to worry about how many of us could hangout without adding air purifiers. It was a peaceful blessedly happy respite for all of us, three generations from 3 different parts of our family.
The Spruce Plot
We hiked the path through The Spruce Plot each time we met. Hiking the woods in the middle of winter has it’s own unique pleasures, and hiking The Spruce Plot brings it all home. The stillness you experience walking through the majestic trees is broken occasionally by the creaking sound the trees make as they sway in the wind. It sounds to me like they’re talking to each other, maybe to us as well, welcoming us as guests in their home. The sound inside is softened, the air still. You’re protected from the wind in the winter and the heat in the summer. You are surrounded by the trunks as the green needles grow mainly up top, reaching for the sun, creating a picture of familial strength, with the tree trunks standing tall right next to each other.
The Morton Arboretum has so many different gardens to explore. You can drive through naturalized groves or park and hike the paths through them. The Spruce Plot, where I took these photos, is spectacular. Morton Arboretum’s website describes it as “The quiet mystery of the spruce plot at The Morton Arboretum will make you feel as if you were hiking in the forests of Norway and Romania. Do you feel a temperature difference as you enter? The spruce plot creates a cool, dark environment unlike anything else at the Arboretum. Look towards the sky to see the impressive height of these trees.”
LITTLE TREASURES ALONG THE PATH
In early December, when my hubby and I went on a day date, we saw a bride and groom with their photographer. Later, as we walked down the Spruce path, we found ornaments in the branches and lovely words spelled out with pine cones on the stone benches along the path. It was really cool. I thought maybe it had been decorated for the wedding. When we went back, they were still there, and more had been added. I loved it! Someone took the time to find the pine cones, shape the sticks, and even decorate them with green branch bits. It seemed like there were more ornaments each time we went.
AND . . .
Someone decorated the path for complete strangers and kept it up all month long. It really was heart warming.
THE NURTURE OF NATURE
There’s a term created by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture in the early 1980s which translates roughly to “Forest Bathing.” The belief is that by spending time immersed in the sights and sounds of nature, you improve your health. You actively take a brain break from stress by connecting to nature through your senses. You don’t actually have to hike through a forest. Sure most of us, almost all of us, can’t plant a grove of trees in our yards, but we can probably find a park. Maybe you can even find space to plant a tree in your yard, front or back.
The Things We Found Along the Way
Along the way, through the pines, our 23 year old son, Dan, found this little snowman. He decided it needed a nose. The consensus was he looked a little sinister with the nose. The snowman, not the boy.
While I was photographing the red ornaments, I found this snow caterpillar hanging tight on its branch. I also found this little painted rock, which looked like a rainbow. Kinda cool to find a rainbow in the snow. The last photo is of the Keebler Elf tree. All the cookies were gone though.
These are my favorite things that I found – which weren’t actually lost, but I had missed very much.
THE PLACES YOU CAN GO
Here in Illinois it is mostly grey skies, sometimes snowy white, and cold most days. Holidays are past, gardens are frozen, and there are no flowers to pick. Which means there is less work to do. No lawns to mow, bushes to trim or tomatoes to plant. Mother Nature is waiting for you with her arms wide open. You can see the deer through the leafless trees. You can hear the birds better because there are no leaf blowers or lawn mowers. The view is different but it is still beautiful.
You can find more information about the Morton Arboretum at https://www.mortonarb.org. If you live in Cook County, Illinois, you can find information on the Cook County Forest Preserves, which are open to the public free of charge, at https://fpdcc.com. You can find information on what National Parks are near you at www.nps.gov.