My entire childhood and into adulthood, I was a quintessential city kid. Sure, I traveled the world and experienced rural living; I traversed Seminole, Oklahoma, and Saginaw, Michigan, but at my core, I couldn’t understand how anyone could live in the boondocks, away from the city experience. I enjoyed it when my parents took me to Catskill Game Farm and Lake George, but that was a “trip” more than an immersion in nature. I didn’t see it as solace for the soul; I didn’t appreciate that it was G-d's gift to each of us, and if we allow it "in,” it shifts our inner vibrations for the better.

Then we moved to Montana.

From our early days in the BoZone, eighteen years ago, we started “checking out” nature. We’d visit Yellowstone, take a drive to Glacier, visit Lake Louise and the Columbia Icefields in Alberta, enjoy a picnic at Hyalite, and even drive across the Beartooth Highway from Red Lodge into Cooke City. Yet, as the years progressed, our love for nature - our appreciation for the Divinity embedded in G-d's playground - became deeper and deeper, to the point where I don't think I could ever live in a city again. I need the mountains. I need mounds of fresh white powder. I need the hail and sleet, the winter blizzards and summer thunder storms, the trails and the creeks, the lakes and the rivers, the hot springs and the fresh mountainous air that lifts the body - and the spirit too.

I finally understood why the Baal Shem Tov and his students would spend extensive time in the forests of Ukraine. I understood why the kabbalists enjoyed gentle Safed over the bustling of Jersusalem, and I understood why King David preferred his time shepherding sheep over being indoors. Sunday is hiking day, and we always try to hike a new trail. Thou I huff and puff y ay into wilderness, hiking isn't a burden for me - it's a joy: exploring new terrain, viewing new vistas, and unpacking the G-dly sparks rooted in an untouched, pristine part of creation. So whether it's the giraffes at Thorny bush in South Africa or the island in the middle of Crater Lake in Oregon, the views of Mount Shasta visible while canoeing on Lake Siskiyou in California, or the cliff overlook at Gooseberry Falls State Park in Minnesota, our mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being benefit immensely by being Jewish in nature.

Even here in the Gallatin Valley: one day it could be at Bridger Bowl with the kids skiing, and the next day, strolling to Ousel Falls in Big Sky. It could be hikes at Stone Creek, Sypes Canyon, Buffalo Jump State Park, Natural Bridge Falls, or maybe it's just a drive to the Warm River or Sawtell Peak in Idaho - there is so much to do close by, and it's rejuvenating. In an era of phone addiction, TV and video game obsession, and news and politics invading our brains, we will always have the gift of nature that Hashem gave us, allowing us to tune out, recharge and dig deep.