Selective Observation Urban Nature Walks

I walk at lunchtime, most days. The standard route I take is about 45 minutes' worth. Over the drawbridge, turn just before the beach, through the neighborhood, back over the bridge. A lot of concrete in view, some dense-population high-rise condominiums, banks, construction, plenty of cars. I'd rather be climbing a mountain path or hiking through a forest. However, in addition to the human contributions to the landscape, nature is present in large amounts on my walk. I practice tuning into the nature, tuning out the rest, and it is rewarding. The texture of a dead palm frond, leaning against the trunk of the tree where it fell. A lizard running across a rock. The smell of frangipani and, immensely, the air. Yesterday I experienced the way the air that is moving across my face is connected to the sky, up there where the clouds are, so vast and various. Mind expansion is restful, and connection--the air and the sky, myself with the natural world--is essential.