Why You Should Go Outside in this COVID World

Dave, with Penny the Adventure Dog, atop Hope Pass in Colorado.

The COVID world looks radically different than it did before all of this craziness. However one place that has remained unchanged is the great outdoors. Back in June I’d had enough of the worrying and mask wearing. I hopped on VRBO and booked a one room cabin in Twin Lakes, CO. My faithful sidekick, our dog Penny, and I jumped in the truck and drove up there from Dallas. We were there for 5 days and literally went in only one store the entire trip to buy milk. Besides that we got up early, hiked and explored and napped all afternoon. It was the safest I’ve felt from the virus since it all started.

And the best part was that the mountains and streams and wildlife were all still there. The old saying that it was here before we got here and will be here long after we’re gone is so true. Robert Macfarlane explains the concept of deep time in his book Mountains of the Mind: Adventures in Reaching the Summit. In short it is the idea of the geological timescale of billions of years on which the earth operates versus on minuscule perspective as humans. As we fight through this battle with the virus, I am encouraged to know that we and the Earth have survived much worse and will be healthy again.

The vaccine that is rolling out as of December 2020 is giving us all hope that there is an end in sight. In the meantime we have to stay vigilant by making safe decisions that include social distancing, masks and avoiding unnecessary public gatherings. One place that remains unchanged by the virus is the outdoors. We have to be safe in how we enjoy it by going with people with whom we are comfortable and maintain social distance from others we may see. Otherwise the outdoors remains a refuge where we can be as we always have been. We can all use that kind of refuge right now.