The Hope Tree

Hi, folks! I grew up with fairly sedentary habits for two simple reasons: 1) I have always loved books a lot, and 2) the main athletic pursuits where I grew up were ball sports which I do not enjoy and for which I have no natural aptitude. I once got hit in the face with a softball, and I managed to jam my finger badly enough for it to turn completely purple/grey playing volleyball of all things. And it's not like I'm only willing to do things I'm naturally good at, but my overwhelming experience has been that people just get frustrated or even mad when I'm not good at the sport we are playing, and I don't really enjoy being yelled at. Some people may feel motivated by that, but I am not one of them. So I participated in sports as little as possible growing up.

As an adult, living in a different place and with very different opportunities available to me, I have become more active. I have always loved hiking but didn't always have a lot of access to good hiking trails, but for the past several years I have lived in places with great greenway trails in town, allowing for more access to nature without having to go far. The walking trails are not very challenging, but they are long enough to get some good distance in. And now I also have hiking trails of varying difficulty within reasonable travel-distance, as well as in-town walking trails. I'm the last person who will ever tell you that nature and exercise is all you need to fight depression, but it really does help me.

I have a bit of an obsession with moss.

I can walk to this spot from my house.

The following pictures are in Obed Wild & Scenic River National Park

Shoutout to my Xero Shoes! The Terraflex is a lightweight shoe that allows natural movement while still giving me great traction and protection on the trail.

I have also taken up rock climbing, which I'm not great at, but I really enjoy the challenge. At first I only climbed in a climbing gym, but I have now tackled climbing outdoors (which is harder, but so much fun). Obed Wild & Scenic River National Park hosts free ranger-led climbing once a month, and I got to go with a friend last weekend. They have harnesses and helmets for guests to borrow for free. They also have climbing shoes, but they may or may not have your size. I was lucky enough that my friend had a spare pair in my size. There were ropes set up for climbs of varying difficulty and rangers to belay climbers. And can I just take a moment to say how much I appreciate how encouraging the rangers are? I really do love climbing, but I'm also pretty scared of it, so sometimes I am slow as I try to find hand- and foot-holds that I really feel comfortable with, and the rangers (as well as my awesome friend) were so patient with me and encouraging when I made it. They never made me feel like I was being frustrating. Even some other climbers who I didn't know were cheering me on, so it seems like a pretty welcoming sport.

This was an easy climb, but it was a good place for me to start.

I got stuck here because I couldn't find any more good handholds that I felt like I could grip well enough to move my feet, so I had to be let down.

These next pictures are all from my last climb of the day. It was also quite challenging for me, but I made it almost to the top, which I hadn't thought I would be able to do, so I was very proud of myself.

Now for the reason behind the title of this post. On the trails near my house, there is a tree that absolutely fascinates me because it's growing on the very edge of the riverbank, and it has a hollow that goes all the way through the trunk. You would think this tree would be dead and falling into the river, but it is still very much alive. I shared it with other members of the Tennessee Trails Association on Facebook, and they very fittingly dubbed it the Hope Tree.

So if you are struggling, remember the hope tree and keep hanging on. And maybe you don't love to be outdoors like I do, but find your own thing that helps bring you joy.

As always, go sow some goodness!