Bruised knees and brisk weather.

Yesterday I went for a walk, picked up sticks, gathered wintergreen to make tea, and admired waterfalls running through miniature canyons of ice. It was a good day. At least, it was good until I slammed my knee against a rock, bloodying it through a layer of clothing. Ouch. But even that couldn't really put a damper on the bright sun, frosty air, and crisp frozen leaves littering the ground. 

I haven't been spending too much time outdoors lately, using the two fairly valid excuses of illness and attempting to be productive artistically. But if I'm going to be honest, I tend to avoid being active outside when loneliness turns sour on me. Loneliness has been an occupational hazard of mine for over a year now. It's usually something I enjoy; some of my best moments outdoors have been times where I felt completely alone and reveled in it. But every now and then it turns on you; slowly but surely the solitude starts to hurt and it becomes harder and harder to motivate yourself to do the activities you love, just because you're so caught up in wishing someone else was there to participate alongside you. There's a way to defeat these feelings of inertia and misery though, and it's actually quite simple. You just start walking. So yesterday, I walked. And it was good (aside from the bloody knee).