Taking Thoreau's prescription to take long walks in rough weather to keep my spirits up, I embraced the notion of going for a hike when the sky began to rain down ice pellets this afternoon. I was already thinking of walking to the river to see how high it was running when I realized it was beginning to rain ice pellets. This was not freezing rain, not hail, not sleet; it was simply and merely raining ice pellets.
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| Ice pellets collecting on beech leaves |
I realized this was a moment to be seized. I grabbed my rain jacket, a warm hat and gloves, took up my walking stick, and quickly went out the door. I had to see what walking in this kind of weather was like. I was not disappointed. It was a good day to be in the woods.
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The Harpeth River running about 12 feet higher than normal.
Usually when I walk out to the leaning tree in the middle of this
picture, I am standing at the top of a steep, high bank above the river. |
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Me at the riverside, enjoying an invigorating walk in the woods.
It may be 29ยบ and raining ice pellets, but it's a great day to be alive! |
"Take long walks in stormy weather or through deep snow in the fields and woods, if you would keep your spirits up. Deal with brute nature. Be cold and hungry and weary." ~ Henry David Thoreau, Journal, Dec. 25, 1856.
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