June is the Great Outdoors Month

June is the Great Outdoors Month, as well as Rebuild Your Life Month. Seems like two good topics to write about...

I am and am not a fan of the Great Outdoors. I waffle between like and dislike, depending on the time of year and the amount of bugs that are out. Especially mosquitoes. The only thing I hate more than flies are mosquitoes. There can be one little bitty mosquito in a five mile radius and it will find me, like a torpedo. It will zero in on my foot or my arm, and rub it's tiny little claws together in glee, knowing it's about to have a great meal and put me in misery. Other people get a mozzie bite and they may itch for a day. Not me. I end up with welts and permanent scars because I itch for days and can't stop scratching. I have spent many a hot summer night waking up to the torment of unbearable, itching limbs. Or I wake up and find that I've drawn blood in my sleep.

I don't like bugs. They're creepy, they crawl and are generally a nuisance. I'm sure some bug right to lifer will want to string me up for this, but it seems to me that bugs really have no purpose other than to make us miserable. I'm just saying...

Bugs are not the only thing I don't like about the Great Outdoors. I will just mention quickly that the sight of a live snake within a 5 mile radius can trigger a panic attack worse than any public speaking engagement you could ever think of. I once climbed up the side of a mountain, a mile out of my way, just to avoid a black snake on the walking path. I'm glad my friends chose to wait until after I finished my trek to tell me that I probably passed a dozen snakes going up the mountain. I don't trek up the sides of mountains anymore. And if I'm walking in the mountains, I make sure to have a big stick and a friend to walk in front of me. I do that for bears as well. I'll try to protect my friend with the big stick if I have to, but if it's a snake, it's every man, or woman, for themselves. Friendship only goes so far.

But I also love the Great Outdoors. I love the scenery. I love the smell and the sounds of nature, unless it's the scream of something that just became dinner. All joking aside, I love to be outside. Cades Cove is my sanctuary and every time I go, I discover something new. I love the sounds of waterfalls, I love the sound of the wind rushing through the trees. I love hearing the birds sing. Nothing is as peaceful as the sounds of nature.

I also love the desert. The harsh architecture of Mother Nature is breathtaking in its stark simplicity. Whether the scenery is in Egypt, in China, in New Mexico, or Australia, I love the the desert. Except the snakes. And the scorpions. And the spiders. Here I go with the bugs again.

Gotta love the Great Outdoors. As long as it involves my creature comforts.  And no bugs.