By Dan Thalmann | October 29, 2025

Go outside and enjoy nature

Saturday was a pleasant day. I spent it mostly outside.

A hectic week weighed on me, but fortunately, the weekend weather was cool enough to start outdoor sweatshirt season, but calm and sunny enough for a nature hike. 

I walked out of town to a dirt road and soon I was distracted by the unique landscape and bountiful wildlife that surrounds us here in Washington County.

Patches of sumac blazed red. Trees and prairie grasses are transitioning to their autumnal attire.

The winter sparrows are returning from their northern breeding grounds. I identified a handful of Lincoln’s Sparrows and some Harris’ Sparrows. A covey of bobwhite quail blasted out of the brush almost under my feet. 

Later, while listening for birds, a pair of racoons must not have noticed me (I usually stand absolutely still, listening for and watching birds for long stretches of time) and they rambled out of the brush and over to a small watering hole where they took long drinks as frogs jumped into the water beside them. One took a swim and the other meandered around before finally noticing me. It froze. I never moved. They lumbered away.

Later, I was surprised to find a Gulf Fritillary butterfly resting on grass, then another flew over. I found a third later in my yard. We are outside their typical range, but a few have been spotted in Kansas this year. Blazing orange wings on top and an intricate black and white pattern below.

That afternoon, I took my grandkids on a golf cart nature tour, first around our yard, then out and about in the country. Flowers, birds, swirled sandstone outcroppings… everything was interesting. They wanted to play in the dirt. I forgot to bring my phone, which also meant we were untrackable. I got in trouble. This grandpa has a tendency to test his limits with grandkids. But we had fun.

Simple days like this can be so enjoyable and memorable.

What I didn’t see during my walk were any protesters.

I fail to see the benefit of spending time on social media intentionally seeking out contemporary political controversy and then taking it a step further by spending valuable time participating in nonsensical protests. Protesters who aren’t even opposing specific bills or legislation… they’re just mad they lost the last presidential election.

The world on your phone is not real. It is trying to manipulate you. 

If you set the phone down for a day and get outside and do something, your mental health and physical health will improve. Repeat this enough and you’ll break free from the hypnosis and realize these massive social media companies don’t care about reality, they just want to mine your minds. 

I shared pictures of the Gulf Fritillary with several people. I don’t know if I was showing the pictures to Republicans or Democrats, but I was very excited about this unique find. Still am. Not everyone shared my heightened enthusiasm. I get it. But the oddities of our rural outdoors are almost always received with interest.

There is common ground when focusing on such things. We don’t need to focus our entire existence on politics and tribalization.

You don’t have to go searching for fritillaries, but you won’t regret breaking away from your phone once in a while, getting some sunlight on your skin and experiencing the world in real life. Five stars, highly recommend.