If you've followed my blog in the past, you know that my posts include descriptions of hikes, thoughts and observations, and photos. Now we have an infant, the light of our life, Luca, and there aren't enough hours in the day. (My Dad would smile and say, "At least it's only one and not three!") I hope to still post, even if it is infrequently. My posts will likely include more photos - of our treasured landscapes and our family in nature - and fewer words.
It's hard to believe our son Luca will be six months old in ten days. It feels like it was only yesterday that I was holding his tiny body against my chest, snuggling on the couch, sweating in 100 degree heat, cooped up indoors due to the dense smoke that choked Portland from the Eagle Creek Fire that broke out only 10 days after he arrived.
While we no longer spend the majority of our weekend waking hours hitting the trails - hiking, backpacking, or running - we have attempted to get outside as much as possible since Luca entered our lives. Time in the woods is my favorite weekend activity. It is also my church. And I have to imagine if time spent in nature benefits my health so much, it must have benefits for infants, too.
In the early weeks, Luca enjoyed napping on us as we wandered the trails of our beloved Forest Park. Lately, though, he has been alert and captivated by his surroundings, taking in everything with wide eyes - the towering Douglas Firs, low-hanging fog, rain drops falling from the sky, sun bursting through trees (albeit rare). If only I could see what he sees.
Here are some brief snapshots from the last six months and our time spent in the woods with Luca.
September: A short walk on the Wildwood Trail in Forest Park when Luca is three weeks old and Sunday stroll at Mount Tabor under blue sky.
October: Fall arrives in northern Forest Park. We survive our first downpour (all smiles!). We *almost* make it back to the car before Luca starts crying. We hike a five mile loop enjoying the peak fall colors at Silver Falls State Park on a gorgeous morning.
November: a chilly hike in Forest Park. An ambitious 7.5 mile hike at Hamilton Mountain on the Washington side of the Gorge.
Another hike, to Falls Creek Falls, in November brought a brief meltdown - and emergency nursing - on the trail. The views were stunning and we hardly saw another soul.
January: a rainy, foggy hike on the Wildwood Trail in Forest Park and a walk through the Grotto.
February: a weekend at the Oregon Coast and two rainy hikes in beautiful coastal rain forests.
As the days get longer and the weather improves, we are excited to venture outside and into the woods just a little bit more.
Over the last six months, I have often found myself overwhelmed by being a new parent while working full time. In that state of overwhelm it's easy for auto pilot to kick on. But how is that really living? Being aware of this has helped me respond with intention, mindfulness, and gratitude.
As time seems to move so quickly, the minutes and hours we've spent outside walking trails as a family have helped me slow down and be present so that I can attempt to savor every moment of this new and wild journey we have embarked on.
At the beginning of our hike to Hamilton Mountain on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge.
“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.”