How Escaping to Nature Can Be a Reset Button.

Water in nature is fascinating.  

Water has a soothing effect, therapeutic and calming to my spirit.  Whether a trickling stream, a rushing river, a delicate waterfall, an expansive lake or a mighty ocean...water just soothes.  Life is busy for all of  us.    We make weekends our time to spend together as a family.  Short little trips are usually our favorite.  The local reservoirs are all low at this time of year.  We readied to spend a day on the water.  The kayaks were loaded in the bed of the pickup truck.  A picnic lunch of sandwich fixins' and chips and Oreo cookies was ready to go.  Our day of adventure required us to improvise as we went along.  We hit the road!  We listened to music and talked as we traveled that day.  When we arrived in Glacier National Park along the banks of Lake McDonald... what is it about God's creation, nature, and our being drawn to these places?  We just soaked it up!  The time spent on the water helped make it a fantastic day that helped us all reconnect with one another.

A nature inspired artist - that's me.  I watch to study, to understand, to remember how it captivates me.  I take it in so I can take it with me...whether the memory, the photo, the watercolor sketch.

Sometimes we all need to hit the reset button.

The kids (okay, teens) head directly to the water, both wading in and then kayaking for a while.  Then my husband takes a turn, heading out with paddle in hands, while our kids swim alongside the kayak.  I watched from shore, enjoying the moments as an onlooker.  I quietly take it all in, everything around me.  I love seeing how they interact with one another.

Kayaks, Summer Sketches, Cherry Blossoms & ICAD 2016

Summer is a crazy kind of different!

The daily routine is just not the same.  What time do we get up now?  When is lunch?  What should we eat? (Can't I just go back out to my art room?)  Can we really call it a routine?  Like making my way through a darkened room, I am feeling my way through the non-scheduled months.  It's a feat to keep some sort of routine especially where art is related!  It's easier if I'm being flexible.  In the back of my mind, there's a commitment to not relapse into an artistic drought.  At this time last summer, my art room was just beginning to be situated for daily use.  Many new routines and goals are in progress now.  While I want to hold on to making art, I don't want to miss the joys of summer!  Children are at home for the summer days.  We all adjust.  I embrace life in this season.  These days zip by and won't be back again!



We've got two kayaks this season; they are such a great addition to our family time on the area lakes/reservoirs.  We'll have many summer afternoons spent on the water.  There's just something so therapeutic about water.  A few strokes of the paddle and I'm in the middle of this expanse of water.  A new perspective of the land and the surface below makes me want to take pause and soak it up.  Now that our kids are in their teens, we focus on what will interest them so they'll look forward to family getaways.  Here, we think we've scored in that department!  They have always loved the water, but the days of rolling up your pant legs and wading along the shore are gone.