This blog is a collaboration of a hike led by Naturalist Curt Burnette at the Music of the Wild Preserve on October 27, photographs of the hike by Melissa Fey and Randy Lehman and the words of Gene Stratton-Porter from her book "Music of the Wild," Part II, Songs of the Fields, which is about this area.  We hope you will enjoy your hike with Gene, Curt, Melissa, and Randy.

I love all the music of nature, but none is dearer to the secret places of my heart than the Song of the Road. The highways are wonderful. They appear to flow between the fields, climbing hills without effort, sliding into valleys, and stretching across plains farther than the eye or lens can follow. 

The Limberlost is a wonderful musician, singing the song of running water throughout its course. Singing that low, somber, sweet little song that you must get very close earth to hear, because the creek has such mighty responsibility it hesitates to sing loudly lest it appear to boast. 

All the trees rustle and whisper, shaking their branches to shower it with a baptism of gold in pollen time. 

The many trees and masses of shrubs lower their tones to answer the creek, and he who would know their secret must find for himself a place on the bank and be very quiet, for in the thicket the stream will sing only the softest lullaby, just the merest whisper song.

Sometimes it slips into the thicket, as on the Bone farm; for it is impartial, and perhaps feels more at home there than in the meadows, surely more than in cultivated fields, where the bans are often are stripped bare, the waters grow feverish and fetid, its song is hushed, and its spirit broken.

.....and November spreads a blanket of scarlet and gold. 

Shinrin - Yoku/Forest Bathing
By Melissa Fey

   This is a new concept in the United States, but Forest Bathing has been practiced in Japan for many years. The idea is to immerse yourself in the forest. This is not a hike but more a leisurely walk using all your senses to engage with Nature. 
    Contact with nature is as vital to our well-being as regular exercise and a healthy diet. Just as our health improves when we are in nature, our health suffers when we are divorced from it. As we walk slowly through the forest, seeing, listening, smelling, tasting and touching, we bring our rhythms into step with nature. Shinrin-Yoku is like a bridge that opens our senses and bridges the gap between us and the natural world.  When we are set in harmony we can begin to heal.
     Why should we be interested in Forest Bathing?
          ~3.9 billion people live in cities
          ~Living in cities can be stressful
          ~The average American spends 93% of their time indoors
          ~A high percentage of our time indoors is spent looking at screens
      Even a small amount of time, as little as two hours, will help you unplug from technology and slow down. Forest Bathing can help:
           ~Reduce blood pressure
           ~Lower stress levels
           ~Improve cardiovascular and metabolic health
           ~lower blood-sugar levels
           ~Improve concentration and memory
           ~Lift depression
           ~Improve pain thresholds
           ~Improve energy 
           ~boost the immune system
           ~Increase anti-cancer protein production
           ~Help you to lose weight
     A walk in the woods can do all this?
There are natural oils in plants, Phytoncides. They release these oils as a part of their defense system to protect them from bacteria, insects and fungi. It is the way that the trees communicate with each other.  A study at the Mie University in Japan showed that the citrus fragrance of phytoncides is more effective than anti-depressants for lifting mood and ensuring emotional well-being.
    The microbes in the soil we breathe, Mycobacterium vaccae, activate neurons associated with the immune system. Soil stimulates the immune system and a boosted immune system makes us feel happy. Digging in the garden or eating vegetables from the earth will give yourself a boost. 
     How to get started. Visit someplace that will fill your heart with joy. If you do not live near a forest, a local park will do. Trees in the city are just important as trees in the country. a single tree can absorb 4.5 kg of air pollutants in a year. 
           ~Leave your camera and phone behind
           ~ Let your body be your guide
           ~Listen to where it wants to take you
           ~Take your time
           ~Focus on your breathing
           ~Savor the sounds, smells and sights of nature
           ~Let the Forest IN
           ~Listen to the birds sing and leaves rustle
           ~Smell the fragrance of the forest, breath in the phytoncides
           ~ Place your hands on a tree, dig your fingers/toes in a stream
           ~Cross the bridge to happiness via your natural path
    
     If you cannot go outside, bring the outside in by using tree essential oils. A test performed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the Emergency Department, which is a high stress and fatigue area, showed hat using essential oils generated from pine, cedar, spruce and other conifers made a big difference. 84% of the people tested felt that essential oils contributed to a more positive work environment. 
                                                                                  Before          After
Work-related stress                                                 41%              3%
Feeling well equipped to handle stress                13%             58%
Perceived energy levels                                            33%            77%

Develop a hands-on approach to the Natural World. Get in harmony with the earth. Take some time and practice Shinrin-Yoku, you will benefit from nature. 
  
  

Photos from the Limberlost and the Loblolly Marsh woods trail.