The Golden Grey Evening Glow of Springtime
And the Joys of Being Outside in Bad Weather
This is a little observation I made in the note app on my phone the other day:
May 24th, 2024 at 8:17 PM.
It’s yellow outside.
Maybe more of a golden gray.
Pouring rain.
In this evening glow, the grass is the greenest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s beautiful.
I would love to go for a walk right now but I’m holding 2 month old baby Josephine. And that’s ok. I would rather hold my daughter than go for a walk in the rain. But I do love being outside in this kind of weather. Somehow it makes me very happy.
This note entry got me thinking..
It is possible that something’s wrong with me, but one of my greatest joys in life is being outside in shitty weather. In heavy rain, blizzards, extreme cold, sometimes even extreme heat. I’ll just go for a walk, maybe throw on my weight vest and walk with that, or I’ll run. Usually, when I tell people about this hobby of mine I get the same puzzled look and some version of the comment posed as a question “Why would you want to do that?” Usually, my reply is some version of this:
In this world that we live in, it’s necessary to manufacture our own adversity or become weak and atrophy.
When the weather is harsh and you’re in the elements, it makes you appreciate the comfort and warmth of home when you make it back inside. If you’re always comfortable then you’re spoiled.
It makes me feel alive, full of vigor and vitality in a way that few other things do. It puts a smile on my face. And much like an ice bath or a sauna session, I always feel better after being outside in bad weather than I did before.
I think the main obstacle that people face with respect to being outside in bad weather is that most of the time in the world we live in this has to be self-imposed. It does not make sense to our monkey brains. Why go outside in bad weather when it’s warm and cozy inside?
Thoreau agrees with me on this topic. In The Journal of Henry David Thoreau, 1837–1861 he talks about the benefits of being out in the elements in two separate passages.
On Christmas Day, 1856:
“Take long walks in stormy weather or through deep snows in the fields and woods, if you would keep your spirits up. Deal with brute nature. Be cold and hungry and weary.”
Four days later he expands on the idea:
“We must go out and re-ally ourselves to Nature every day. We must make root, send out some little fibre at least, even every winter day. I am sensible that I am imbibing health when I open my mouth to the wind. Staying in the house breeds a sort of insanity always. Every house is in this sense a hospital. A night and a forenoon is as much confinement to those wards as I can stand. I am aware that I recover some sanity which I had lost almost the instant that I come [outdoors].”
I learned of these Thoreau passages from the amazing Maria Popova.
https://www.themarginalian.org/2018/01/05/thoreau-excusrsions-a-winter-walk/
Music
This is a playlist of songs that make me happy. I started it in September of 2020 and last added to it in January of this year. It’s 40 songs at the moment and will continue to grow. I say all that just to say, this is not some playlist I scrapped together willy-nilly.
Have an outstanding week friends! If it’s raining, consider going for a walk. You can always dry off and shower when you get home.
-SJ
Enjoying the playlist you shared with us!
HDT: "I am imbibing health when I open my mouth to the wind."
Wuhan lab: hold my beer...