Enjoy A Break From Technology

To enjoy a Living More Than OK Life it helps to take a break from technology. Technology is so much of our daily lives and we often we can not do without it. Much of our work involves the computer screen many hours a day. Emails and texts seem to be never ending. Even in grocery stores in produce sections I see people picking up vegetables or fruits with one hand and scrolling their iphone screens with the other. I want to walk up them and say “why don’t you give it a rest”. As a family we gave technology a rest this past weekend.

We took a weekend trip to Bastrop State Park, which is outside of Austin, Texas. Instead of doing a hotel we rented a full service cabin inside the park grounds. The cabins were very simple but comfortable. I was surprised to read of the history of the cabins on a poster inside the cabin. It turned out that they were built in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. I remembered that 3 of my uncles served in the CCC before World War II. The cabins were made of stone so they had survived the Bastrop Fires that occurred last Summer.
We enjoyed canoeing on the lake and hiking through the woods. Even though the fire had devastated the area, we viewed nature making a come back. Many of the pines near the cabins were coming back strong. Further from the lake and into the deeper wooded areas the trees were still more barren. If we can have some strong late Fall rains as the weather forecast is predicting hopefully next Spring will see more greening of the trees.

The morning canoe outing was the highlight for my wife and I. It was so relaxing to be out on a still lake viewing the surrounding nature from that perspective. We took the sights in with all our senses to savor the time together and capturing pictures of the beauty of the park. That is one of the positives of taking time to be out in nature to savor God’s Creation.

In the evening at the cabin we continued to keep away from technology. There was no television in the cabin. So we spent time playing a game called WhatchamaDRAWit. We had never played it since buying it and had lost the instructions so we made up our own rules and enjoyed playing our version of it. That opened up conversation time which is also a rare item in today’s technology world of texting or talking in short phrases. Twitter and Facebook communication has limited communication to just short phrases. It seems like people can’t read an email that asks three topics as they will just respond to whatever the person first stated and ignore the other items in an email. So it was pleasant to be away from the technology to use old fashioned speaking in communication.

We bought a Texas State Park pass at the park as we realized as a couple and a family, we need to break away from technology from time to time. To enjoy life to the fullest it helps to do other things than to be tied to the electronic gadgetry that tries to control our lives. We are looking forward to going back to Bastrop State Park and exploring other state parks during this next year.

Reflection: Take a day and shut down the electronic technology that you think is vital to your existence. You will see you can survive a day without Facebook or texting. You may even enjoy it. Go to a State park, zoo, museum, or a picnic at a local park. Enjoy a conversation with someone with the cell phone off or silent. Write in a journal how your experience from technology felt.

Breaking Free From To Do Lists To Savor Texas Bluebonnets

With a house especially in Spring time, there are always To Do’s to keep the weekend busy. House cleaning and yard cleaning can make the weekend as hectic as the workweek. Sometimes, (not always), it is more important to wad up the “To Do List” and give it a toss to enjoy a more than ok weekend. My wife and I did that this past weekend. We used most of Saturday for a Country drive to Wimberly, Texas to look at the Texas Bluebonnets, a wild flower that is the state flower for Texas. Bluebonnets are one of my wife’s favorite flowers. Thankfully our first year in the San Antonio area has been a good year for bluebonnets.

We took a country back roads route to Wimberly from New Braunfels so we could enjoy the wild flowers in the fields and ranches. Also this allowed us to take a slower pace to enjoy savoring the scenery. Country roads help to learn enjoying the journey, instead of rushing from point A to point B like we too often do. Just as we entered Wimberly, there was a field in front of a health services plaza and church that was full of Bluebonnets. It was there where we took most of our pictures.

Since it was our first time to Wimberly we took some time to look around before taking pictures. There were many interesting shops and since our main focus of the day was flowers we said to each other that we have to come again for the shops. It was lunchtime when we reached the town so we decided to grab a bite to eat. We asked at the Visitor’s Center and they gave suggestions and we went with the nearest restaurant named The Leaning Pear. It is just Caddy Corner across the street from the Visitor’s Center.

If you are in Wimberly I definitely recommend The Leaning Pear as a place to eat. The restaurant was clean and neat even the outdoors area where we ate. All the staff were very friendly and helpful. The food was refreshingly fresh and tasty. We shared the Caprese Panini and their House salad which had crispy sweet pear slices on top. Since Wimberly is not too far from New Braunfels we will definitely go back. If you are in the Wimberly area their website is www.leaningpear.com

After lunch we decided it was photography time with the bluebonnets. We went back to the field at the edge of town and parked. We each had our cameras so went to various parts to the field to take photos. I mention in the title to savor bluebonnets. Savoring is allowing the experience to soak in to your inner being. It is not a quick rush click click of the camera and back into the car. We probably spent over a half hour roaming around the field taking panoramic shots and close-ups of the flowers. By slowing down and savoring God’s creation you can enjoy the beauty more fully.

We need balance in our lives. We do need to take care of our homes but during the various seasons we need to take time to break out of routines and enjoy other aspects of life. For my wife and I enjoying God’s creation of flowers in Springtime is one of those breakaways. Our yard and garden is definitely calling but I foresee other short trips around the Hill Country to enjoy God’s creative touch in nature.

Reflection: Are the “ToDo’s” getting the best of you. On a weekend take a day to break away to do something you enjoy. Go to the beach, a country drive, visit a small town you have never been to. Take time to do it at a slower pace to truly savor the experience.