by kimqi | May 7, 2023 | Illinois, Spring Hiking, YinYang, Seasons
Melancholy seeps in. Sometimes I try to reason it away or wrestle it to the ground. This time I decide to take it for a walk at a local forest preserve. A place that lends perspective as crushed gravel crunches rhythmically under my boots. I note nests high in the...
by kimqi | Mar 27, 2023 | Lasalle Canyon, Starved Rock
Sometimes hiking is like a dream. Yesterday was one of those days. Few people were on the trail; that alone was surreal, especially on a warm spring day. Beauty and surprise were abundant. I was walking along the River Trail near LaSalle Canyon. The mighty Illinois...
by kimqi | Mar 20, 2023 | Hiking, Illinois, Taoism, Winter, Winter Hiking, YinYang
It was cold but sunny, the perfect morning to wander around Matthiessen. Tonight is the Equinox, the beginning of Spring. A time of balance, night and day are the same length; Yin equals Yang. This hike is a quest to find Spring, I thought. I laughed and shivered....
by kimqi | Mar 11, 2023 | Hiking, Illinois
Recent hikes in the Shawnee National Forest inspired me to research critters I was unfamiliar with; bobcats, rattlesnakes and copperheads. The process led me to consider fear in general. We are afraid of things we don’t understand, right? In theory, education will...
by kimqi | Feb 18, 2023 | Hiking, Illinois, Nature, Winter Hiking
Every February, I long to get away. This year, I took time off work, so I would go, no matter what. I wanted to visit somewhere warm, which didn’t happen, mainly because I couldn’t coordinate it. Last week, I impulsively chose Shawnee National Forest over Hocking...
