Feb 15, 201103:39 PM
Exploring the Beauty of Our Own Back Yard
Nature’s Classroom
This week I leaped at a chance that came my way to seize a last-minute opportunity at facilitating a “Wellness” workshop for a group of local school children. Because I knew little of the individual students, had scarcely enough prep time to pull together a comprehensive lesson plan, and was itching to embark on a scenic adventure, I instinctively considered the mental catalog of “stock” outdoorsy pursuits that fell neatly under the “Environmental Science-meets-Outdoor Education” heading that I’d logged while I was being certified as a teacher.
While poring over the reserve of initiatives, I sought counsel from my immediate surroundings. Peering out a hand, nose, and paw-smudged window at my house, I was at once captivated by the way in which the ruddy rays of the sun playfully danced on brittle moss-swathed branches, offering a warm embrace that undoubtedly signaled spring’s good intent.
The first day in what seemed a baker’s dozen that it hadn’t precipitated, I settled on leading the group as a purveyor of the landscape, on a nature walk over an expansive and desolate trail system in Sandwich we had immediate, and seemingly, sole access to.
Throughout my experience as an outdoorswoman, teacher, and parent, I’ve found that setting out amidst, observing and subsequently “journaling” – writing and sketching in a notebook – about the environment can have a profound effect on a person.
There just seems to be something in the recognition and chronicling of Nature’s “voice” – her message, temperament, mood, and tone – on any given day that has a way of reconnecting a person to his or her roots, the environment, and the Earth.
An avid canvasser of the natural environment, I routinely encourage the budding naturalist in my friends and family members to carve out some time to wind their way through the kaleidoscope of ecological settings that are purely and extraordinarily presented on-Cape. It’s a grand pastime to discover, examine and appreciate one or another of the bounty of plant and animal species indigenous to our immediate surroundings.
Pose a nature walk and journaling session to your friends, family members, and colleagues!
A sampling of the marvelous occurrences they are likely to observe include:
- The movement and sounds of animals
- The appearance and motions of trees and plants
- The light and shadows in the atmosphere
- The action and patterns of the weather
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