Time to Step Back and Breathe

I find it so easy to get caught up in the stress of day-to-day activity: bills to pay, appointments to keep, work to do, and emergencies that pop up out of nowhere.  The oppressive heat of summer weighs down so heavy that I feel like an apple that has had all the sweetness squeezed out--my spirit can feel rather dry and I become a bit crusty and curt in my responses.

I need to step away from it all occasionally and regain some perspective.  The beauty of the outdoors helps to provide a difference; a new point of vision can change my point of view.  Elizabeth Barrett Browning said it well:

The Little Cares

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The little cares that fretted me,
I lost them yesterday
Among the fields above the sea,
Among the winds at play;
Among the lowing of the herds,
The rustling of the trees,
Among the singing of the birds,
The humming of the bees.

The foolish fears of what may happen--
I cast them all away
Among the clover-scented grass,
Among the new-mown hay;
Among the husking of the corn
Where drowsy poppies nod,
Where ill thoughts die and good are born,
Out in the fields with God.