I made a promise to myself this year that I would make the time to visit more of Minnesota’s state parks. (Nerd alert!) We even made a spreadsheet to keep track of activities we could do at each! I like to wait until spring has actually begun to go camping, but that first camping trip of the season is gonna be fantastic this year. I’m already looking forward to it. We went to William O’Brien State Park a couple weekends ago now, and it was perfect timing.
With all the things I have planned already for the season, it’s been a bit of a challenge to keep on top of all of my goals. I’ve been working hard every day at keeping an hour or two for things that don’t normally get attention otherwise. I’ve been doing more writing, for one! More blog posts for my dear readers. I’ve also been making extra effort to take the dog out for walks. It’s hard during the winter, what with the freezing temps here, but it’s worth it to get out and breathe fresh air whenever I can manage it. It has greatly improved my mood and mindset.
William O’Brien is a very nice little park, tucked in by the St. Croix river. It’s more accessible in the other three seasons, but our late winter trip was on a beautiful clear day. The sky was such a bright blue and the snow was clean white. The nice thing about getting into state parks in the winter is that they have less of the touch of civilization on them. No road grime, no salt, so sand. It makes for potentially treacherous footing, but if you’re prepared it’s much more rewarding. I’m finding a new love for winter hiking this year.
Some of the things I love best about parks is that I often get to have them to myself in the winter. If the temps are barely above 20ºF I’ll bet much fewer people are out than even at 30º. I found particular joy in some of the untouched details we saw that day. Texture and details, after all, are what I love most in my own art. I’m ecstatic when I find them constantly out in nature. One specific instance comes to mind. There was a small runoff faucet that was pumping water from who knows where down some rocky steps on the riverbank. The water itself was crystal clear and the effect it had made a mini waterfall. Even with the odd pipe sticking out, I wanted to play in it like a little kid jumping in puddles. What first caught my attention though was a dangley little goober. It was bright green and also crystal clear, hanging from the mouth of the pipe. The way the sunlight hit it made it look like a jewel. It made me so happy to see such a bright green amidst the surrounding white and brown. The resulting picture surprised me. The way both the water and the little dangler looked in the picture was too great not to share.
This is where I get my inspiration to make things. I don’t always work with color, so sometimes that gets overlooked, but texture and detail are definitely two of the creative pillars by which my process is supported. I’d say, so far, this goal of getting out to state parks is definitely paying off. I would recommend William O’Brien State Park for a day trip! I’d like to get back when the park is fully open to do some camping near the river. It would be so lovely to wake up by the St. Croix.
I hope you have also had a dose of fresh air lately, we all need it!
