Medicine

I've been feeling a little anxious lately, for various reasons.  Not anxious as in 'slightly nervous,' but anxious as in 'psychological illness.'  When I was 23 I developed a anxiety disorder and was on medication for a year.  It was hellish.  Since then I've learned to recognize the warning signs within me, and try (as best I can) to take steps to prevent it from progressing too far.

One of the ways I've learned to appease the anxiety is to spend time outside, forcing myself to recognize nature's simple beauty.  On days like today, it isn't all that hard a task.  We've had some ridiculously lovely weather recently--warm sunny days and cool clear nights.  Geese and ducks are moving in the sky.  Deer and turkeys are moving in the meadows. 

Most of the trees are bare.  Just a few oak and cottonwood leaves still clinging to branches.  Tall stalks of wildflowers and grasses have shed their seeds.  The corn and soybeans have been harvested, and farmers are tilling broad black swaths around the field edges. 

Weathered fence posts and abandoned groves are lonely reminders of farms long gone.  Skeleton trees shine white in the sun along old fields and sloughs. The lake water is clear and blue, reflecting the open sky.  When the wind blows you can sense the distance, the vast oceans and forests and grasslands over which it has traveled.

I'm very fortunate to live here.