I hung new hammock the other day; the ropes on the old one had broken in places leaving a hole in it. I had tried repairing it, but rope ages poorly in the weather and after fixing one spot, it would quickly break in another. I was able to immediately find an exact replacement \u2013 one of the advantages of using Amazon so much. Why an exact replacement you may ask? Hammocks are inherently unique in how they hang, where they fit. The location I had hung the old one \u2013 the tree spacing etc. \u2013 was predicated on that particular hammock. While I could certainly have modified whatever was necessary to suit a new one, I really liked the setup and wanted a \u201cplug and play\u201d solution. Plus, the old one had served us well; it was a good hammock. So I bought an exact replacement, hung it up, and inside 5 minutes, I was done. And yesterday, I spent a glorious hour in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am not typically a hammock person and am much more likely to sit on a stump of old log than lay in a hammock. And I rarely stay in one spot for more than 10 or 15 minutes outside \u2013 much prefer to keep moving. But this time I didn\u2019t \u2013 I stayed there, I laid there, and I didn\u2019t move for what seemed like forever. I love to talk about perception and have often mentioned Einstein\u2019s unique description of relativity: \u201cPut your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That\u2019s relativity.\u201d That hammock became a hot stove and a pretty girl to me in that the hour in that is lasted an eternity and simultaneously was over in the blink of an eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Laying and looking up there was nothing but green everywhere, but not one or ten or even fifty shades of green \u2013 there was every possible shade, tone, and hue of the color you could ever imagine. And the colors all changed as the light changed with the sun coming and going through the clouds and the leaf canopy as the trees moved. The breezes would sweep through, flow actually, much like a swirling stream winding its way along with twists and turns; but not just horizontally \u2013 vertically as well. One set of leaves high up would begin to quiver and quake while all the others remained quiet. Then, it would move, almost jump, down to the lower level, bringing a whole different set of leaves to life with dance. The dance would begin with a single leaf, spreading quickly to other leaves on the branch, then other branches on the tree, just as quickly leaving it \u2013 or not \u2013 and moving to another leaf on another tree to spread the rhythm. The summer breezes in the forest are secretive and serendipitous; they come and they go suddenly, just as suddenly surprising you from behind. Truly magical. And the light! The sparkling and shimmering of the sunlight as the leaves would bend and dance with the breezes was endlessly evolving much like a unpredictable kaleidoscope spun by some cosmic hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those moments spent just lying still and being immersed in Nature\u2019s daily dance of summer were priceless and unforgettable. It happens every moment of every day, is completely free, and yet so many of us never notice it and certainly don\u2019t take advantage of it. Whether the respite is two minutes or an hour, taking the time to give yourself that gift is tremendously important; especially in these turbulent and chaotic times. Please treat yourself dear reader, find some time and a quiet place and just watch nature flourish around you \u2013 you\u2019ll be glad you did!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I hung new hammock the other day; the ropes on the old one had broken in places leaving a hole in it. I had tried repairing it, but rope ages poorly in the weather and after fixing one spot, it would quickly break in another. I was able to immediately find an exact replacement \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"ocean_front_end_style_editor":"no","ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humanity","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"\n