Time to Turn Off the News and Get Outside!

I don't know about you, but I've been watching way too much news lately.  I'm pretty good about keeping political news to a bare roar, but news of the hurricanes and wildfires have mesmerized me.   It's felt apocalyptic!

Everyone has been following Harvey and Irma, but even out here in the West it's taken a while to register the fact that major fires are burning in the Northwest.  From about Sept. 3rd through the 8th the smoke from these fires made its way here resulting in a very noticeable haze.  On Sunday the 3rd it was thick enough to obscure our views of the foothills and on the 8th many people reported being bothered by the smell.  Here's map from the 7th showing how the smoke ended up in Colorado.

The past few days I've been particularly struck by the destruction that Irma left in the U.S. Virgin Islands.  If you haven't followed that news thread you can read a good report here.  Ben and I and Paul have spent wonderful vacations in St. Croix and St. John, with brief stops in St. Thomas, and it's sad to see such amazingly beautiful places turned upside down by Irma. 

Here's the beach right down the road from the apartment we stayed at over Christmas last year. 

Here's the wharf by the ferry dock.

This is the restaurant where we had our Christmas dinner.

And here is a popular bar, Skinny Legs, across the island in Coral Bay where we had a leisurely lunch with John and Dawn and their boys over spring break in 2014.

I made this collage of some of the photos we took at that lunch.  

Seeing and reading about the destruction on St. John has affected me much more than what's happening in Houston and Florida.  Having traveled to the island I know how remote it is and how difficult it is going to be to rebuild.  Everything has to come in over the water and that's slow, difficult, and expensive.   

In addition, I know St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas primarily as places of wondrous beauty, with sugary white sand beaches, lush green mountains, and amazing sea life.   I've been in Florida and Texas on business trips or to see family.  But my trips to the islands have been just for fun, and filled with pleasure and relaxation.  It's hard to see that beautiful playground destroyed, even temporarily.  And doubly hard since I believe in science and therefore believe that the frequency and severity of these storms is tied to the warming of our oceans caused by man-made climate change.   

All that is on top of the political and social turmoil of our times.  Not to mention the regular trials of life.  

Well, it helps to turn off the news and get out outside!  I love the quote from Anne Frank,  "I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.   Ben and I make a point of getting outside most every day.  Even a half hour walk around the neighborhood really lifts our spirits.   

A couple times a week we do a longer hike.  Last Friday we escaped the haze and smoke and headed up to the Indian Peaks wilderness area for a six mile round trip hike up to Blue Lake and back.  

The air at 10,000 feet was cool and clean, the wildflowers were still blooming which was an unexpected treat, and the hiking felt good.  Being on the trail was a great respite from the drumbeat of the news!