I have always felt very firmly that I don't know how I feel about being outside.
There are parts of the "great" outdoors that I love unabashedly and will never change my stance on, like the beach. Even with all the messy sand and occasional seaweed attacks, the beach is a temple for me. There is a celestial quality to the vastness of the ocean, and swimming on its very edges makes me feel part of something big even though I know it makes me small.
Another of my outdoor temples is the park. Not any park in particular, but I am of the opinion that all parks are better if they have swing sets. In college, I had one semester with some really hard roommates, and walking to the park in the middle of the night to swing idly back and forth in the dark always helped me feel more grounded somehow.
My least favorite outdoor places are those with snow. Yes, I live in Utah. Yes, we have the best snow in the world (or so I'm told). Yes, I grew up skiing annually with my family. My favorite part of skiing was the reward of hot chocolate in the lodge afterwards. I mean, I enjoyed the skiing a bit, but it's definitely not what I was there for. Not to mention my fear of heights was probably not helped by careening down steep mountains.
I also hate anywhere outdoors that has mosquitos. Can we just kill all the mosquitos already?
My other favorite (partially) outdoor place is Disneyland. You can ask Casey, my walk turns into a near-sprint as I bounce from attraction to attraction at Disneyland. Growing up, I was able to go once or twice a year, and going there makes me feel like everything is going to be okay. The last time I went to Disneyland, when we got to the end of the night, I stood outside Sleeping Beauty's Castle and cried a little knowing the day was over and real life concerns would start returning as soon as I exited through the gates. I was right. It did.
I suppose the takeaway here is that the outside isn't so bad. As long as it isn't cold and/or infested with bugs that bite.
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