How hectic and busy is your day?  I feel as if each year that goes by our lives get busier and busier.  Event free weekends are few and far between and now that my wife and I have two little ones it seems as if an hour of doing nothing is unheard of.  If this sounds close to your schedule I invite you to take a walk through one of our olive groves; even if it is for only 30 minutes.  I never really thought about it until the other day while I was out checking our irrigation lines; being in the middle of an olive grove almost places you in a whole new world.  Our trees are planted in a high density fashion along trellis as an 8 foot tall long hedge.  In the middle of the grove you seem lost to the outside world.  You are limited to tunnel vision so you hear sounds you normally wouldn’t hear and the trees block out sounds such as traffic or neighbors.  On a still day you feel as if you are wandering in a Hunger Games’esq labyrinth delicately walking and taking in every sense of sight, sound and smell you can; quietly waiting for what your senses will observe next.  You notice the sound you make in the grass below your feet and the sound of the bees flying around carrying off pollen.  You hear the caw of crows you can’t see and you see the outline of a rabbit 75 yards ahead of you down the row.  You also notice the slight fragrant smell of the trees and the earthy smell of soil.  The trees are so dense that they have become home to wildlife we didn’t see much before.  Seeing a Jack Rabbit was slightly rare but now the groves have become loaded with them.  Quail and doves frequent the area and you can almost always spot at least one coyote any day of the week.  Because of the thickness of growth you often find yourself walking right up on some of these critters; startling you both.  While writing this I am laughing because I know it sounds like I have been “chasing the white rabbit” or something.  Trust me, there is something therapeutic about it.  I am not really as eccentric as I am sounding here.  I am sharing this with you and at the same time I know I am blowing my cover.  I am sure I will hear it next time I go to leave a house full of crying children to “go work on the ranch” leaving my wife to fend for herself.  If you are in our area feel free to stop and take a stroll down a row and let me know what you think; I am sure you will not be disappointed. 

Ciao, Mike