The Healing Power of Nature

Short Non-Fiction by Joy L. Magnusson + Interview

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It’s a beautiful summer evening. Not too warm, not too cool. It’s that perfect, elusive temperature we call “lovely.”

The house is warm and full of smiling faces. Delicious aromas promise a scrumptious dinner is on its way. It’s all very wonderful, but you can’t help yourself. You slip out the door.

It’s been such a very stressful week. Your eyes are aching. Too much time staring at a computer screen, your doctor says. Your head is thick with the allergies of the season. A week of relentless sneezing and coughing has left your chest tight. On top of that, you woke up this morning with a sharp pain in your back. It’s not serious, but you can feel it every time you move. Maybe you shouldn’t have come out to your friend’s acreage. You would have been better off at home in bed.

But as soon as you step off the deck into the grass, the cool evening breezes stroke your face. The scent of fresh lake air overcomes you, and the week’s tensions melt away from you into oblivion. Your very soul relaxes.