Wander at Will: A little sunshine on my lunch break

Editor’s note: This story is part of our Wander at Will series, which is designed to inspire you to enjoy the many recreation opportunities in your Will County preserves in whatever ways you are able to. Whether you’re a well-traveled explorer or just starting your outdoor adventures, digital marketing coordinator Meghan McMahon hopes her first-person adventures will help you’ll find new ideas, tips and hidden gems to help you connect with the outdoors all year.

The recent warmup has really kicked my spring fever into high gear. Anyone else?  

It’s hard to resist the urge to find a reason, any reason at all, to get outside when temperatures are in the 60s in February — when it could just as easily be snowing with below-zero wind chills.  

Even without the 60-degree weather, this is about the time of year when I am itching to get back outside. I’m ready to trade in indoor workouts for outdoor ones. I’m ready to start cleaning up our yard and getting the gardens ready for planting. I’m ready to bury the winter coats in the back of the closet and pull out the spring jackets.  

I consider myself fortunate that my job allows me to get outside fairly regularly, but this week my to-do list has kept me at my desk. Lucky for me, though, my desk happens to be just a short walk away from Sugar Creek Preserve and the Wauponsee Glacial Trail. That means the great outdoors is just a few steps away when I want to take a quick walk on my lunch break to feel the sun on my face and wind in my hair.  

And that’s just what I did. On each of these nice days, I changed into my walking shoes and hit the trail to log a few miles on my break. Did you do the same? 

Of course, I realize it’s a privilege that my office is literally in a forest preserve and that not everyone is as fortunate. But you don’t need access to a preserve or park to enjoy the great outdoors on your break. Maybe you could take a quick walk around the block or even the parking lot for a little fresh air and exercise. Or maybe there’s a picnic table or bench nearby where you can sit while eating your lunch, reading a book or catching up texts.  

I don’t think you’ll regret taking a few minutes to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air on your break. We deserve it after a long winter with stretches of days that were too cold or too dreary to make being outside enjoyable or even tolerable.  

And these warm days aren’t here for good, not yet anyway. They are just a tease of what’s to come. We all know we aren’t done with the cold and snow just yet. That makes it even more important to savor these unseasonably warm winter days when we can.