Coping 15: Big nature

I'll start with the caveat that other sizes of nature are also acceptable, but I find big most effective. It's pretty commonly acknowledged now that being in and around nature and natural things is helpful for one's general wellbeing. This is an easy position to quote, and to consider worthwhile. The trick is in the doing.

I have the amazing good fortune to live in a city which has a subway all the way to the beach. Literally to the beach. Exit the station and you're looking straight at the North Sea. For a couple euros, I can sit for half an hour and then be in the midst of what feels like a never-ending ribbon of sand alongside a yet vaster body of water. Outside the summer months, it's mainly populated by birds and kite surfers.

Walking into the wind next to the sea is a kind of amazing magic: instantly, grinning is the only facial expression available. Feeling present is the only possibility. It's pretty good.

When it's not possible to get to the sea, or I forget it's just sitting there waiting to be visited, finding a pine tree to sniff is also fine. But big nature comes with some pretty excellent awe into the bargain, which makes it worth seeking out.