Journaling Nature

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

A stray kitty has been prowling through our neighborhood, seeking a permanent home. We saw it at a neighbor's house one evening, and then heard it at another neighbor's house the next day. It was crying pathetically, no doubt hungry and lost and lonely. My kids had pity on it, and the short story of it is that it now wears a pink collar and gets fed every day. We are its Forever Home, like it or not. (We all like it. We just weren't WANTING it.)

Snowy Egret

While on family vacation to Tybee Island, GA recently, I stalked this guy along the ocean's shores. It was early morning, shortly after the sun had risen, and I was taking a walk with my son. My son darted in and out of the waves, catching fish with his small net. Just ahead of him was this egret, also catching fish. Breakfast was successful and so much fun to watch happen. I love the stealth these birds display. And the wispy feathers on the back of their heads are comical to watch as they get thrown around in the breezes: it's akin to a "bad hair day", only they deal with it so gracefully.

Rat Snakes by Nickolas, age 8

My son has had a fascination with snakes for years. He catches every one he possibly can. He knows which ones are poisonous (and is NOT allowed to catch these), and can identify nearly every one he sees. I regularly receive text messages with pictures attached from friends, asking my son to identify the snake they found. He is obsessed with them!

Wildflower Pilgrimage Journal Entries by Emily, Age 11

My daughter isn't nearly into nature journaling as my son and myself, but we took a class specifically on nature journaling while at the Pilgrimage, and the teacher declared that it is OKAY to doodle and draw fancy borders and write in fancy ways on your pages. Emily grabbed onto this and ran! She enjoyed nature journaling much more after she started letting her pen fly with this. She also enjoyed playing around with the watercolor pencils.