Today was the first sustainably rainy day of spring. The grass was greener against the grey-ness of the patchy dirt and the sky and certain colors crept out of places that I wouldn't have expected.
Going back into nature after doing these weekly blog posts, I notice that I pay attention to the sounds and the colors surrounding me in my environment much more. I make a note of taking deep breaths to also take in my environment in a sensory way rather than a tactile way by touching things only with my hands. I wouldn't say that I lick the ground to see what it would taste like, but I appreciate studying the textures of pine needles or the buds coming up from branches with my fingers. I actually think I got a weird look from someone as I was stroking my nose with a piece of grass the other day (as a side note, the nose is a WONDERING organ to feel things with. I never considered that before this class, but the sense of touch there is phenomenal when studying different textures).
After learning about the spiral similarities in organisms, I am much more aware of discovering those similarities in nature around me.
Being an illustration and design student is great when it comes to exploring nature. I feel that as an artist I can appreciate the textures and the naturalism all around.
My all time favorite illustrator is Beatrix Potter. She created little lovely stories with anthropomorphic animals and was also a mycologist on the side. She was the person to discover that lichens and fungi are inherently similar in their biology. Looking through her biographies, I am always inspired with how close her connection with nature was. When she was young, and into her middle ages, she would go on holiday in the Lake District in northern England where she would fill sketchbooks with her findings. Eventually she became a conservationist for the Lake District where it remains untouched and natural.
Things are growing!
It was actually pretty funny the other day. My boyfriend and I were at a garden store buying some plants for a terrarium that I made. Mid-sentence, I pulled him to a gorgeous small succulent plant that had a single droplet on it transforming and skewing the skin of the succulent plant beautifully.
I guess I pay attention to the little things these days. VERY little things.
Now, stepping outside is a treasured event. It was rare for me to take time out of my crazy days and just sit outside and not really think about anything but experiencing my surroundings. The air, the smell, the way the ground feels under my feet, the texture of tree bark with moss and without moss.
My family has a cabin up in Hackensack, Minnesota on Ten Mile Lake. It's pretty rare to tell someone that and have them know exactly where that it. But then I would say that it was ten miles from Walker, Minnesota and Leech Lake and about 30% more people know where THAT is. But I digress.
Up on the lake, it's so amazingly different.
We have groups of loons fifteen strong cross our portion of the lake around one or two in the morning and you can hear their haunting, beautiful calls as they talk to each other in the night.
I have always appreciated that, but I can only imagine what it will be like now.
This experience of taking down notes of my experiences in the CITY will make a huge difference for when I go up there. With fishing, skipping stones, hiking, picking flowers, bird watching, swimming, canoeing and the occasional mosquito slapping, my senses of the outside world of nature will be beneficial to appreciating my experiences more and more.
Thank you.
Mary N.
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