I forget which podcast I was listening to recently, but the guy was talking about our fundamental need to have a connection with the earth. Now before you start thinking I’m about to go all hippy-dippy flower child on you, fear not, I’m still the same city girl you’ve come to know. But the guy had a point—when we have free time, when we get to take a vacation, we don’t go sit inside some fluorescently-lit room drinking diet soda and checking our email. No, we go to the beach and dig our toes into the cool, damp sand and bask in the sun’s warm rays. We go to a spa and get slathered in green mud or piled with warm rocks. We head to a tourist destination to take in the scenery. And we take the time to eat good food like desserts made with delicious fruits grown locally. We drink local wines, too. When we get a chance, we like to reconnect with the earth.

That podcast made me realize how little in our day-to-day lives we actually connect with nature in a physical, tangible way. Too often, it’s just a view outside a window, or worse yet, a picture of a blossom on a computer desktop that connects us to the outside world as we live cocooned in offices, cars, and houses. And realizing that, well, it makes me want to go play in a sandbox, dig in the dirt, splash in some water, lay in some grass, dance in some moonlight, listen to some birds, or pick some flowers. Maybe I’ll do all of the above, and celebrate the accomplishment of my reconnection with nature with a glass of locally-made wine…