Ditch the Coffee...and the Cocktails. Yeah. Right.

 

I am not one to preach about habits.  I can say with reasonable confidence that I have more vices than the average human.  But I am going to impose my opinion on others, just this once.

Have you ever risen at first light, and instead of making a pot of coffee, just put on your shoes and gone out for a nature walk?  This is something I’m forced to do on a regular basis because I have a large four-legged beast that requires supervised exercise. If I don’t take her out for some serious exploration I end up with the sad-eyes, nose-poke guilt treatment all day. In her younger years my pup would simply come with me on my runs, but now at the sweet old age of 13 a morning walk is about right.

This “chore” has turned out to be better than coffee.  Not only does it clear the sleepy dreams from my brain, but I return home brimming with optimism about the day.  What can be more joyful than spying a family of deer, quietly munching the neighbor’s prize rose bush for breakfast?  Or having Woody the Woodpecker (in this case a majestic pileated with a ruby-red crown) dropping bark bits into your hair from the tree above?  Your ears become fine-tuned to the sounds of robins belting out their morning tunes and the deep croak of the bullfrog mating song.

The effect of the morning walk lasts longer than coffee, too.  Instead of the energy crash that hits a couple of hours after a caffeine jolt, you have a smile, more of a private joke between you and yourself, for the entire day.  You owned the morning. 

Why ditch the cocktails?  Yesterday was a busy day so we didn’t get out for our walk until dusk.  Rewarded for our procrastination, we enjoyed our own private Happy Hour on the forest trails.  My bouncing Labrador and I shared the magical moment of being silently swooped by a big brown barred owl who may have mistaken my pony-tail for a squirrel tail.  She was beautiful.  It was one of those big, deep sigh moments.  Much like the feeling of sitting back with a glass of wine after a satisfying day.

But tell you what.  I like caffeine as much as the next human.  And I love liquid Happy Hours, too.  So at the least we can all try this, just once:  Bring your coffee in a travel mug (or your glass of wine) right along with you and hit the trails.  The most important thing is to get out there and smile at all there is to see and hear. You might just find yourself addicted.