Beaver Creek Conservation Area

I love living in cities.

The hustle, metros and buses everywhere, the abundance of close-by cafes, and easy access to friends; that's where I love to be.

But nature...that's a different story. The feeling of taking a deep breath of petrol-free air. The sensation of the breeze whipping past your ears and through your hair. Hearing birds singing, and running your hand through the tall grasses. No traffic in sight, just the wide-open blue sky. 

Nature is therapy. That's what my friend, Cecily, and I talked about on our walk through Beaver Creek Conservation Area in Saskatoon this past week. It was my first trip to Canada, and I was visiting two Canadian friends who I had worked with in Istanbul, Turkey. They were showing me their home towns, and Cecily had taken us to Beaver Creek on our last morning in Saskatchewan. God spoke to us through the nature that day, pouring calmness into our souls and refreshing us from the busyness and responsibilities of life. I took so many deep breaths, filling my lungs to the max.

And then, we connected with nature on a whole different level.

Cecily had mentioned that we would get to feed chickadees at Beaver Creek. These are small birds with an easily-spotted black cap on their white bodies, which we also have in my home state of Georgia. At the visitor center of Beaver Creek, she asked the staff if we could have some sunflower seeds, and we filled our pockets with the little black seeds. As we set out on the trail, Cecily put her hand out flat with the small seeds showing, and soon a little bird had hopped over on the bushes and jumped straight onto her hand! I was amazed and copied her. Soon, we were all standing there with chickadees grabbing our fingers with their little claws as they picked up seeds from our hands. It was an experience I will never forget. 

As we passed the area where the chickadees liked to hang out, we took the yellow route and followed the foot path through the brush. Birds were everywhere, hopping on branches, soaring overhead, and hovering around bird houses. After the shorter yellow trail, we set out on the red path, which takes about 30 minutes to walk. Cecily spotted a deer, and we marveled at a close-up ground squirrel with an intricate white and black pattern on his back; it reminded me of the details of a turtle shell. Isn't nature more beautiful than anything we could create? 

Being at Beaver Creek felt like hitting my reset button. It cleared my head and opened my eyes to the beauty around me in nature. The birds and wildflowers spun ideas into my mind, awaking my creativity and refreshing my thoughts. I was physically renewed, as my lungs were filled with more fresh air than they had experienced in a while, and the walk got me moving carefully and conscientiously over the dirt trails. 

Nature is therapy.