Forest Bathing for Beginners

Sometimes, the most simple delights are the most difficult to explain. Such can be the case with one of the oldest ‘new trends’: forest bathing. We’ve all felt the energy and peace that being in nature can provide. In fact, human beings have known this for many centuries. Sunlight, fresh air and the smells of the forest can not only improve our mood, it can redefine how we think about the world and ourselves in it.

If you’ve never dipped into forest bathing before, here are a few simple principles to set you on your way: 

1. Just be.   This isn’t meant to be exercise, and you don’t need a set destination. Simply connect to nature with all your senses.

2. No devices.  Resist the urge to take photos of the world you encounter. There are times for that but forest bathing is an in-the-moment experience for your senses.

3. Destination unknown.  Unlike hiking a trail or climbing a summit, forest bathing needs no physical destination. It’s ok if you go nowhere at all.

4. Breathe it in.  The fragrance of the forest is healing. Take deep breaths and experience the purity of the air. Let your toes explore a cool stream. Lie on the forest floor. Feel the tree trunks with your hands. 

5. Anywhere, anytime.  Once you’ve learned how to deeply experience nature, you don’t need a vast forest or nature preserve. You’ll find you can connect with nature in a pocket park or your own garden.

Here are some local places to try it out!

RAINBOW MOUNTAIN NATURE PRESERVE | 230 Stoneway Trail, Madison, AL

Dappled sunlight and many rock outcroppings sit within 130 acres. 

MONTE SANO STATE PARK | 5105 Nolen Ave., Huntsville, AL 

Translating to ‘mountain of health,’ Monte Sano’s lush, forested acres await you.

MADISON COUNTY NATURE TRAIL ON GREEN MOUNTAIN | 5000 Nature Trail Rd SE, Huntsville, AL 

Circling beautiful Sky Lake, this 72-acre park is a serene spot for forest bathing. 

HARVEST SQUARE RECREATIONAL PRESERVE | 111 Allyson Sadie Blvd, Harvest, AL 

Ponds and shady, meandering trails are open from dawn to dusk.

By |2021-06-04T19:32:56+00:00June 4, 2021|News, Uncategorized|0 Comments

The Town Center is Now Underway!

The developers of Village at Oakland Springs have now announced that the Town Center is underway! It will be a welcoming atmosphere of shopping,
dining, and entertainment, right in your own neighborhood. The plan boasts 15,000+ square feet of restaurant, retail and office space, and 262 luxury apartment homes. A planned community pool and Meeting House are in the works too.

Follow us on Facebook for updates about this exciting new addition to our beautiful community.
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By |2021-05-10T22:04:09+00:00May 9, 2021|News, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Events & Excitement

You may have heard we’ve ranked ‘Top’ and ‘Best of’ in many categories—best city to live in Alabama, top schools in the state and ranked in the top percentile in the nation. But beyond the numbers—which are very impressive!—Madison is a hometown with a lot of heart and soul. The neighbors here enjoy a vibrant town environment. There’s always something fun and exciting to do.

Throughout the year –a typical year, anyway— our city enjoys events and get togethers like:
• Madison Easter “Egg”stravaganza and Kite Festival
• City of Madison Stars and Stripes Forever July 4th Celebration
• Annual Madison Station Polar Express Christmas on Main
• City of Madison Cars Under the Stars Christmas Movies

Then there are the everyday special things, and the unusual places that might just become your favorite haunt. The Madison City Farmers Market offers the freshest local produce and a great place to get together. Local shops are awesome—Old Black Bear Brewing Company, Pure Barre, and more, offer great opportunity for fitness, fun and flavor.

What will you love best about Madison? Visit, explore and decide for yourself!

By |2021-05-10T21:46:32+00:00February 26, 2021|Attractions, News|0 Comments

Sports In Madison

It’s great being so close to so many great attractions here in Madison. If it’s sports you love, our ‘next door neighbor’ Huntsville, hits a home run. As they say at our sister community, Village of Providence in Huntsville, a HUGE part of the camaraderie and spirit of this area is our leave-it-all-on-the-field sports teams. Check them out!

BASEBALL: The Rocket City Trash Pandas
We think a name like that is a home run in and of itself! Our own Rocket City Trash Pandas are North Alabama’s official Minor League AA baseball team and 2021 is the year it all begins! Want to support the team? Check out the hats, shirts and other great gear at the team’s store in Bridge Street Town Centre.

FOOTBALL
Alabama is no stranger to football. Our state, and the entire south, really, just LOVE the game and we’re fiercely loyal to our teams. Huntsville has football teams of its own:
Alabama A&M Bulldogs – an NCAA Division I college team
Huntsville Tigers – a women’s tackle football team in the Women’s Football Alliance (WFA) league.
Huntsville Rockets – a semi-pro team named for the original and beloved Huntsville Rockets Football Team in the 1960s.

HOCKEY
Yes, HOCKEY! In Huntsville we have our own teams—the pro team, Huntsville Havoc, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville’s (UAH) Chargers. You’ll want to plan to slide over to the Von Braun Center and take in a high energy, high stakes hockey match. The sport is actually a very popular local pastime. And it’s just one of the things that make Huntsville such an interesting place to call home. Huntsville Havoc is a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League and the UAH Chargers team is part of NCAA Division I.

RACING
Love racing? Huntsville has your passion. The Huntsville Speedway is a quarter-mile track that hosts stock car and modified car racing. This track has hosted many a legendary racer over its many years. Richard Petty enjoyed one of his earliest wins here. It must have been that Huntsville luck.

Whatever game gets you going, Huntsville has it and our neighbors and friends love getting together to cheer on the home team. Come be a part of it!

By |2021-05-10T21:51:09+00:00January 22, 2021|Attractions, News|0 Comments

Traditional Neighborhood Design

Village at Oakland Springs is a traditional development that sets a new standard of excellence for Madison residents. A neighborhood that goes beyond a development – and creates a community.

Developed by the visionaries who brought The Village
of Providence to life nearly two decades ago, The
Village at Oakland Springs is set to be the ultimate embodiment of Traditional Neighborhood Design. Community life thrives here in this pedestrian focused neighborhood among a structure of well-connected central gathering places.

The Village at Oakland Springs has a distinctive sense of place, by design—our planners have adhered to the time-tested principles of Traditional Neighborhood Design, with careful community planning, people-
focused design, and building in harmony with the surrounding landscape.

Timeless Village Experience

Intimate yet easy to navigate tree-lined streets are flanked by wide sidewalks, and encourage walking. Homesites are as diverse as they are lovely and offer privacy, natural beauty, and an ideal environment upon which to build your dream home. From a home on a spacious Natural Preserve homesite to a Cottage Home, to a no-maintenance townhome, your options are endless. Architecture here is a harmonious blend of old southern elegance, stately classical elements, and timeless Americana small town charm.

By |2021-05-10T21:53:51+00:00January 22, 2021|News|0 Comments

US Space & Rocket Center

If you ever wanted to know MORE about the amazing U.S. Space Program, you’ll be over the moon about the US Space & Rocket Center in nearby Huntsville. Operated by the government of Alabama, this enormous hub of all things space has been called “Earth’s largest space museum”. Within the vast halls and exhibit spaces of the Center, you can see items from the infamous Apollo Program, interactive science exhibits, Space Shuttle exhibits, aircraft and rockets.

The US Space & Rocket Center is set among land carved out of Redstone Arsenal just beside the beautiful Huntsville Botanical Garden. From here, you can take a tour by bus of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, try out the Apollo Virtual Reality simulator, G-Force Accelerator, or Flight simulator—and that’s just the beginning. Space Camp programs for kids, movies and shows, the I.D.E.A.S. Lab, Scuba experience, and even Family Astronaut Training.

It’s a galaxy’s worth of fun, learning and entertainment. We love being so close to so many great neighbors here at Oakland Springs in Madison.

RocketCenter.com »

By |2021-02-26T19:49:06+00:00January 19, 2021|Attractions, News|0 Comments

Shopping, Dining & Nightlife

Madison is wonderfully close to big city flavor. Enjoy world-class shopping, great restaurants and tons of happenings for every taste. Living in Madison means you’re just minutes from lots of incredible places .

The Town Center at Village of Oakland Springs

When complete, our Town Center here at Oakland Springs will offer a wide array of restaurants, options for shopping, services and places that will have all your day-to-day needs.  Best of all, it will be walking distance from your home at Oakland Springs!

Our great neighbor, Huntsville, has a lot to offer your adventurous, curious and playful side…

MidCity

If you’ve haven’t checked out this one-of-a-kind district, it’s time to see what you’re missing.

This oh-so-hip commercial area of retail, restaurants and entertainment is one of the most unique in the region. It’s referred to as a ‘next-generation gathering place’ and we have to agree!  What’s to do there? MidCity’s own creators say this: “Shopping, dining, outdoor recreation, entertainment and health & wellness that run the gamut from local flavor and niche favorites to urban fashion, tech, home, music and lifestyle brands” like REI, High Point Climbing & Fitness, Dave & Busters, TopGolf and more.

See what’s happening at MidCity »

Bridge Street Town Centre

Bridge Street Town Centre is a creative hotspot offering great style, shopping, dining and more. There’s more than you can do in one afternoon—and that makes Bridge Street one of the best major shopping hubs anywhere in the region. We couldn’t list them all here but take a look at just a few of the scores of brands Bridge Street is home to:

ANTHROPOLOGIE • APPLE • ATHLETA • BARNES & NOBLE• BATH & BODY WORKS • BED, BATH & BEYOND • BELK • CHICO’S • CLARKS • DICK’S SPORTING GOODS • DSW SHOES • J. JILL • ORVIS • OXFORD STREET MENSWEAR • ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS EMPORIUM • SEPHORA • SOUTHERN LIVING STORE • THE WESTIN | ELEMENT HUNTSVILLE • VINTAGE CIGAR LOUNGE • XFINITY

Plus, great restaurants and recreational food and Cinemark, the #1 theater in North Alabama, featuring 14-screens, stadium seating, luxury loungers, a full bar and expanded food menu.

Bridge Street Town Centre  »

By |2021-05-10T21:49:37+00:00January 12, 2021|Attractions, News|viagra 50mg twice a day

FBI at Redstone Arsenal

More growth and more jobs are expected in Huntsville by the FBI in the coming years, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby said Monday, as construction continues on a sprawling campus inside the gates of Redstone Arsenal. Shelby, speaking to about 900 business and community leaders at a Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce breakfast, said the FBI investment could eventually reach $1 billion.

Such a project would be on par with the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA development in Huntsville, which promises a $1.6 billion development and 4,000 jobs.“Huntsville is on fire,” Shelby told the breakfast audience at the Von Braun Center. “

In November, the FBI announced the transfer of 1,350 jobs to Redstone Arsenal.

The expansion of the FBI presence at Redstone Arsenal is expected to ultimately be more than 4,000 jobs.

By |2021-02-26T16:44:34+00:00January 12, 2021|Attractions, News|0 Comments

“Best City to Live In!”

We love our hometown of Madison. Surrounded by beautiful parks and nature, our town began in 1856 when tracks were laid by the Memphis and Charleston Railroad company. Today, Madison is one of the fastest growing cities in the southeast, with one of the highest per capita incomes and a school system that is recognized for excellence at every level, even ranking top 10 in the nation.

Madison has been listed as a US News & World Report “Top 10 Places to Grow Up”, a CNN Money “Top 100 Best Places to Live”, one of Family Circle’s “10 Best Towns for Family”, and was recognized as Google’s “2013 Digital Capital of Alabama”. Madison has been named the best city to live in Alabama by www.ChamberofCommerce.org on its “Best Cities to Live” list.

Currently, over 1,000 businesses call Madison home, enjoying a low cost of business with educated professionals and a hard working labor force. Facebook and Google are investing 1 BILLION dollars+ to establish data centers nearby and new jobs are coming to the area every day. Toyota-Mazda is slated to open in Limestone County and it will bring thousands more jobs, upwards of 4,000.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention our own community here in Madison. With its beauty, walkable atmosphere and so much more to come, it’s one of the best reasons of all to make Madison home!

By |2021-05-10T21:49:04+00:00January 12, 2021|Attractions, most reliable viagra online|0 Comments
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