There Is Nothing To Buy In Nature

Definitely not shopping.

Breaking News: 'Not Buying Anything' Blogger Seen Shopping On Buy Nothing Day

Hey, I just fake news-ed myself.

In reality, I did not go shopping on Buy Nothing Day. I went for a hike instead, and what could be better than that on this special day? In nature, even though there is infinite value all around, there is nothing to buy here. 

I took advantage of a recent snowfall to enjoy my first snowshoe of the season. Conditions were generally excellent for an early season excursion.

My usual route traverses an old mixed forest along an old logging track, and then drops down to the brook at the bottom of the valley.

It is very quiet alongside the brook, the loudest thing being the water gushing and gurgling to the sea, which is about 4 km away as the raven flies. 

When the water is high after big rains or heavy snow melts, you can hear large rocks and boulders being swept along the brook bottom; rock drums tumbling out an irregular beat.

From the brook it is up all the way to home. This time of year I am often racing the sunset to get back before dark. It has a way of motivating me to a swift ascent up the forest cloaked slope.

But I never move so fast that I can't stop for neat stuff. I pause to listen to a trickle of water coming down the hillside. The sound is trance inducing, and focuses me into a spontaneous nature meditation. 

I press on, moving through puffy, deep snow. It is very forgiving, and the hiking is easy. I always use hiking poles, so I feel like a four-legged forest creature, sure-footed and comfortable in this environment.

Just before I get home, near the top of the hillside, I pass through a spruce forest. It is the proverbial "deep, dark forest" found in all kinds of scary stories. But the only tracks I see were left by bunnies and squirrels. 

In here, most of the snow is in the canopy above, not on the ground below. There is just enough to get me and my snowshoes through successfully... before a troll (not the Internet kind) gets me.

While making my way through the spruce labyrinth, I hear two ravens conversing in the distance. Some believe that ravens guide travellers to their destination. 

Indeed, I can see through the trees that I am just about home. 

My hike yielded plenty of value, but I didn't have to buy anything. That is the real news.