Embracing the Beauty: Guest Blogger- Laura Colbert

Blog Written By Laura Colbert- mother, educator, veteran, learner, reader, outdoor enthusiast, friend, author, public speaker, and traveler. (www.lauracolbert.com)

“I’ve never found time spent amongst nature to be a waste of time.” – anonymous

Parents’ arms offer comfort, love, and respite from life’s pain. Just as our parents provide shelter, mother earth envelops us with her warm embrace and shows us the true nature (pun intended) of humanity. Having lived in multiple states and countries, the one common denominator included nature of some kind. I ran along the Tigris river while deployed to Baghdad, Iraq. The lush, yet limited vegetation lined its banks.

While teaching physical education in Aylesbury, England, I found secluded paths, waterways, and parks.

Eventually, I couldn’t resist the undeniable call back to my hometown to raise my own children among crystal-clear, spring-fed lakes and rivers and to venture into the local state park and the lengthy ice age trail that snakes through the state.

Nature calls. The yearning to soothe my anxiety in her calm and compassionate disposition keeps bringing me back. 

As a child, I explored every nook and cranny of our land. I made make-believe chicken out of rotten trees, I pulled moss off the ground in such large clumps that we could encircle the bones of a TP, I looked for otters and foxes next to a pond, I created my own secret Narnia with my twin brother, we biked on such dangerous routes that we named one “suicide.” I swam so often that I grew scales on my legs. My most vivid childhood memories were indeed those of the great outdoors. Even that camping trip that included―and this is no joke―poison ivy, stinging nettles, swimmer’s itch, and the loss of my beautiful 80’s, pink-rimmed glasses that I watched drift down into the 20+ feet of water. None of those things deterred me from loving almost every other moment of that trip. This set the foundation for many wonderful adventures to come… CONTINUE READING