Well spring has finally come to Wisconsin. I was wondering for a while if the weather was ever going to get nice. But it’s finally been warm enough and pleasant enough that I’ve been able to get back out on the bike again.
I’m fortunate to live near some wonderful wildlife and nature preserves with miles of hiking trails. Bikes, alas, are not permitted, although I do understand why. Bike tires can be extremely destructive and disruptive inside of nature preserves.
This is the time of year when flowers are popping up all over the place. Like an entirely unexpected cluster of flowering trees just appearing at random alongside the road. I wanted to go get a closer picture but I would have had to scramble down a steep ditch to get over there so I had to settle for taking photos from the road.
Then I ran into this on one of the trails around here and I was able to get in close for some photos.
I suppose a lot of people would have just blown past, but I’m in no hurry. I’d probably irritate a lot of bike riders if I were with a group because I always want to stop and look at something or take photos. People are in such a hurry these days that they miss much of the beauty this world has to offer.
I love my technology, my gadgets, my computers and all that. But I think we pay a steep price if we wander too far away from nature and lose our connection with the world around us.
grouchyfarmer 
Beautiful…..I have always been one who likes nature and never in a hurry when out and about…..be careful chuq
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I always try to take a moment, and enjoy nature when I’m out there in it.
“But I think we pay a steep price if we wander too far away from nature and lose our connection with the world around us.” This is pure gold.
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I’m told that modern humans, people like us, have been around for something like 100,000 years or more. That means that for more than 95% of the time human beings have existed on this world we lived as hunter-gatherers, living in small groups, dependent on the natural world around us, adapting to that environment. And now, for the last, oh, 6,000 years or so we’ve been forcing ourselves into an entirely unnatural environment of our own making, increasingly separating ourselves from the world we developed in.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not one of these people who think we should dump modern civilization and go back to being hunter-gathers. I like things like modern medicine, dentistry, a reliable food supply, heat in the winter, AC in the summer, etc. But at the same time I think that cramming ourselves into densely populated urban environments is not good for us. We live in a world of our own making that puts us under constant mental and physical stress that is detrimental for our mental and physical well being.
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Nothing I would argue against there Grouchy. I get some pretty healthy doses of outdoors. Pretty much, always have. Though I do like me some air conditioning and a hot water shower!
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I am totally thrilled with that picture of your bike. When I was biking I had a nice Raleigh and I did up to 30 miles per day on it — but that was a long time ago now —I can no longer bike — but it was grand while I could. I loved to dawdle and enjoy the finer details of Nature when I was biking too. Watching the fish spawn in the river– watch the River Cranes teaching their young to fish —inspecting the wild flowers —all that wonderful stuff. The fresh air of Spring is absolutely heady and invigorating from the seat of a bike but I did get choked up a couple of times by breathing in the fuzz from some cottonwood trees ….and the occasional bug that I swallowed —-but all in all this is a wonderfully nostalgic piece that you have written and it has touched my soul in a most delightful way.
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Thanks much for the kind comments. I love getting out on the bike. When weather permits I try to get at least 10 miles in, sometimes 20. But it’s still been too cool for me to want to go very far. We’ve only had a couple of days where temps were above 55F or so.
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