What’s going on right now in our country, our world, is absolutely mind boggling. Never in my life would I have thought I would be writing a blog, after being quarantined in my house for WEEKS, with more coming in the future. Something I have been preaching, and trying to practice as well, is perspective during this pandemic. This is an event that is going to be talked about for DECADES, and probably, printed in history books. It has influenced everyone, of every age, of every creed, of every financial background. But the one thing that we now all have in common, is that the only way to make this experience constructive, is how we view it. You can choose to succumb to fear, depression, worry, etc. or you can look at as a challenge. A challenge to find the good and positive, to fight back, to make your experience what YOU WANT it to be.
Throughout my time here, in a Long Island suburb, packed with people, pavement, cars, and noise, I have craved nothing more than to be isolated. I want to be out in the woods, 20’ up in a tree, with nothing but the wind, birds, and leaves making music around me. It would be easy to sit back and say, “this sucks, I wish I could be out there” and then do nothing about it. I was NEVER a person who would go for a stroll through my neighborhood, but now I average about 3-5 miles a day. Walking through this busy neighborhood, now calm and relatively quiet, has been eye opening. I hear the wind and the birds. I have come to appreciate the sights that accompany early Spring in the April month. Trees, flowers, bushes, all popping with colors, smells, etc. The breeze on my face, the sun on my skin. A cool evening in front of my firepit in the backyard with some soft music playing. I have become so disenfranchised to my town, having seen the majesty that is the rolling hills and magnificent colors of the Hudson Valley, that I wasn’t paying attention to the amazing things around me. Now, there is little I look forward to as much as my walks, with my wife and son and his stroller, around my Long Island neighborhood. I don’t need to just be in the woods, to enjoy the things I love about hunting and being out there.
The easiest thing to do right now is complain, be angry, be sad, and do nothing about it. It takes massive strength to find the little shining beams of hope, cling on to them, and make them grow. Whether you live in the boondocks, or the bustling streets of NY, we can always find a way to be close to nature, and all she has to offer us.
Maintain your distance, practice safe personal protection and hygiene, and never forget, if you can’t go out on the town or into the woods, you can ALWAYS take it out back!
- Matty Cascarella