This year I want to touch more grass

polygon.com:

In 2020, against my will, I discovered that many of my loved ones considered me “indoorsy.” During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, I got texts from pals asking for advice on what to do while stuck inside. I assumed this was because I’ve chosen a career in writing that has me frequently playing games and watching TV. It was, apparently, an identity marker too. “You’re really an inside person,” a friend texted me. “This is your time to shine.”

That isn’t entirely wrong. I do love games — and even more than that, I’ve loved seeing people I’m close to trying new indoor activities these past few years, both through quarantine and as they’ve gotten more used to staying in. I got to be the one who blew friends’ minds with simple tips like Stardew Valley keyboard hotkeys and recipes in various Legend of Zelda games.

But I have also always loved spending time outside; I love the alien architectures of the rocks out in Joshua Tree as indiscriminately as I love charting the fruiting season of my neighborhood loquat trees. (The tree two blocks away ripens earliest.) Nothing recharges me faster than wandering around on foot. Even in city blocks, there’s so much to see: a single blush rose bursting through pruned branches, little tufts of cumulus clouds threaded through LA’s characteristically sunny skies, or a set of three tiny picnic tables a neighbor stuck to a trunk of the tree for the local squirrels.

I just have a body that cannot handle the exertions of more demanding outdoor activities like camping or long-distance hiking. I’ve long struggled with chronic pain, and it became worse in 2021 after a back injury left me briefly bedridden. After more than two years of physical therapy, I’m the strongest I have