We have moved from Shelter Bay Marina and transited the Panama Canal aboard Leilani! We are currently on the Pacific Ocean side waiting for paperwork and good weather windows to move on.
We will present more on the crossing in an upcoming post. For now, we share some of the extraordinary nature we "bathed in" over this past year.
It was an extraordinary year. It may
surprise you to say that, remarkably, we were happy in Shelter Bay Marina. Despite the
extended curfews and lock-downs that further isolated us from the rest of Panama
and the world, we were mostly content in our bubble with fellow sailors
and Panamanians.
We know that our contentment was enhanced primarily by one thing – We had a forest as our back yard.
Recently, Steph from the sailing vessel, Matador, thanked us for sharing the walk and remarked that our walk had some of the qualities of the therapeutic Japanese practice of shinrin yoku, in English, forest bathing. We were delighted to learn that shinrin yoku, is not exercise, or hiking, or jogging. It is simply being in nature connecting with it through your senses.
While we admit we are often a bit more directed and purpose-driven on our nature walks than might be dictated by ‘pure’ forest bathing for example, as we focus to see if the sloth has returned, or if that bird call is the chestnut mandibled toucan, we have been able to enjoy the fundamental benefits of health and happiness from the forest as shinrin yoku provides.
We miss our nature walks with our fellow sailors. We know we were incredibly fortunate to be renewed and invigorated over and over again by nature.
UPCOMING POST: Canal Transit - the routine and the drama
We now have re-activated our tracking of Leilani on the map above using the PredictWind app. You will see our most recent position and be able to follow us as we travel in the Pacific.
ReplyDeleteWe have identified most of the plants and animals we photographed. Want to know more? Just send a comment.
ReplyDeleteYes. I need captions. I've been practicing a slightly different forest bathing. I'm staying at the family cottage my parents built in the 70s. It's a rustic place with no running water or indoor plumbing in NE WI. We've so far had a very mild winter but there is snow on the ground and with the full moon the night time shadows are almost as contrasting as daytime shadows. The cottage is on just under 2 acres and it's all woods with oak, maple, pine, evergreens, winter fern, wintergreen, blueberries, hazel, and a lot more I haven't figured out yet. I've been here since about 20 August. Not as culturally enriching as your adventures but there are rivers, lakes, waterfalls and wildlife so it's all good. Keep enjoying and sharing your blue sea journeys.
ReplyDeleteSo great to hear from you all!! Thank you so much for the update -- Scott and I were just talking about how y'all were doing ;-) Glad to hear you've made it to the Pacific side, and can't wait to hear about the journey through the canal. Love love love all the pictures, but my fav (of course) is the fiddler crab! Take care and stay safe. -michelle
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