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Posted on by Debbie

Earth Day and a Sculpture Walk #SundayStills

Fresh air is good for you

It’s a well known fact that getting out in the fresh air is good for you in multiple ways. When we’re faced with issues that impact our mental health we need a safety valve and that’s what walking is for me.

Forest bathing is a real thing and I am a huge proponent of taking a walk to help me work through issues and sometimes just for relaxation.

Therapy - walking on sunshine
Therapy – walking on sunshine

Forest bathing and forest therapy (or shinrin-yoku) broadly means taking in, in all of one’s senses, the forest atmosphere. Not simply a walk in the woods, it is the conscious and contemplative practice of being immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of the forest. Source

Sugar Pine Walk near Tumbarumba NSW Australia

Earth Day 2024

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 and has been a ‘day’ since 1970.

The main theme for Earth Day this year is to reduce the use of plastics

Planet vs. Plastics, calls to advocate for widespread awareness on the health risk of plastics, rapidly phase out all single use plastics, urgently push for a strong UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution, and demand an end to fast fashion. Source

I saw a list of things to do for Earth Day and one of them was to get outside and walk in nature. This is always my go-to for when I’m feeling under pressure. I walk and my mind wanders. Things pop into my head, I solve problems, I breathe deeply and I always return feeling refreshed.

Think outside. No box required.

Unknown

When my daughters were teenagers and I would find myself getting ‘stressed’, I would put on my shoes and take off for a walk around the vineyard next door. The girls could tell how cranky I was by my pace, and hoped I’d calm down by the time I returned home! Apparently I can be a bit fierce when fired up and teenage girls had that effect on me at times 🙂 I think I made the right choice to ‘walk it off’.

These days I walk in the forest at the back of our property and find the calmness I need by walking for at least half an hour. It just helps clear my head and my body gets to move which is always a win/win.

Earth Day challenge 2024

I also managed to complete the 2024 Earth Day challenge today by exercising for 30 minutes, thanks to my fitness app for letting me know!

Snowy Valleys Sculpture Trail

Although I’ve written about the Snowy Valleys Sculpture Trail in Tumbarumba, I hadn’t been to see the sculptures in Adelong until last week.

I was staying with my mother for a few days in Tumut and the beautiful autumnal weather enticed us out for a visit to nearby Adelong. It was delightful wandering along and using the QR codes to get more information on each of the sculptures. The whole length of the Sculpture Trail is a permanent display and is well visited.

This particular walk is about a kilometre along a well used trail beside the creek and is dotted with interesting sculptures. I liked the sign Fortune (a sculpture) as just behind it on this day was a man panning for gold in the creek. I hope he made his fortune but i dare say most of the gold was found many years ago!!

We finished with a delicious morning tea in a local cafe watching the activity in the sleepy town and taking note of the lovely old trees changing colour. Some far sighted people had the idea to plant these trees many years ago and now we’re reaping the benefits.

You can read more about the Snowy Valley’s Sculpture Trail here, it’s an off shoot of the very successful Sculptures by the Sea in Bondi each year.

I hope you enjoy some of this lovely walk and get a sense of the peacefulness in my photos below:

Snowy Valleys Sculpture Trail in Adelong
Sculpture Trail in Adelong
Debbie riding the wave sculpture
Close inspection of one of the sculptures
man panning for gold in Adelong

Water is calming

On another afternoon I took mum out for a local walk beside the river in Tumut and it was just beautiful! I love the sparkles on the water and the reflections of autumn colour. we stopped for a refreshing drink half way along and returned through the park which was full of families out enjoying the warm weather, plus it’s school holidays!

Autumn reflections
Sparkles on the water

Autumn colour

You can’t beat this time of year in our area, the colours, the freshness of the air, the warm sunshine (out of the breeze) and did I mention the colours??

Colours of autumn

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge

Terri, from Second Wind Leisure, hosts Sunday Stills photo challenge, with the prompt this week being Earth Day, you can read Terri’s post here – Sunday Stills: Continuously Moved by the Earth

Feel free to join in, it’s a fun challenge open to everyone with a different prompt each week! Next week the prompt is all about kids and pets.

Have a great week and I hope you get to appreciate this wonderful Earth we live on, we must take care of it for future generations!

Deb x

All my Sunday Stills posts can be found here – I’ve been doing these for a while and enjoy the challenge it gives me each week!

Sunday Stills photo challenge
Sunday Still weekly photo challenge

Coming up soon:

  • What’s Been on Your Calendar #WBOYC – Friday 26 April 2024 – a monthly linkup where we share what’s been happening and sometimes an update on our Word of the Year. Everyone is welcome to join us.

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Debbie - mother of a 40 year old

Deb is a young-at-heart & active 60+ blogger/retiree, after being made redundant from her 22-year career managing education programs in a men’s correctional centre (jail). She now spends her time reading, blogging, riding her ebike and travelling. Deb was awarded a Bravery Award from the Queen when she was 17 after a tragic accident – a definite life changing moment! She is married with 3 grown-up daughters & has 4 grandchildren. You can read more of Deb’s story here

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28 Replies to “Earth Day and a Sculpture Walk #SundayStills”

  1. You can’t beat a nature walk. I love walking in the nearby forest and do it in all weathers. Looking forward to warmer days. Thanks for linking

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    Reply

    1. Thanks Sherry, I’m lucky to have so much nature nearby, although I just heard that the forest at the back of our property will be harvested starting next week so I’ll be walking in other places for a while!

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  10. Pingback: This week’s small pleasures #384 – Thistles and Kiwis

  11. Nothing beats a walk outside for calming the soul Deb – and it certainly beats banging your head on the wall when it comes to managing teenagers! Loved the sculptures – especially the rabbit.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks Janet, I think it’s good to recognise these days and it reminds us again of what we should be trying to do but don’t always do for various reasons.

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  15. I am truly in need of a forest bath. Since moving to a suburb of a major metropolitan area, I realized how much trees mean to me. It hurts my heart to see these beautiful creatures ripped from the ground just to build another ugly cement warehouse. Unfortunately, the town planners (actually, I’m not sure there are any) like that tax revenue better than homes. I don’t want trees torn down for homes, either, but they’re much nicer than cement blocks.

    I envy you having so much land around you. I’ve got a bad case of “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” We didn’t have a lot of land, but we had glorious, beautiful trees, and room to stretch out and breathe. Such is the life of moving to be near family, right…though I’d never do it again.,

    Have a lovely week, Debbie!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    1. We are so lucky to live where we live Marsha and i never take it for granted. the forest up the back will be closed for thinning/harvesting from next week so I’ll have to look at other walks in town for a while. I’m off on a bike ride today after my strength class so that should keep me busy for a while!

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  16. Amazing how we use the resources of Planet Earth to heal our human hurts and address our needs, as you so well describe with walking and forest bathing, Debbie. And Autumn (or any other time of year) is such a gorgeous time to abide in the forest or a walk on a nature path. Like you I’ve taken walks to inspire new ideas, or to walk off stress, or any number of things. Stunning images in your collection, my friend and happy Earth day to you tomorrow and every day!

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  17. Pingback: Sunday Stills: Continuously Moved by the #Earth – Second Wind Leisure Perspectives

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