Nearby Nature

Writing in a nature journal is a great way to spend time.

Here is a little secret: things you enjoyed as a child are still super fun now. My daughter and I live right in town and have a postage stamp sized front lawn, but that doesn’t stop us from having wonderful, revitalizing outdoor adventures together just as I enjoyed with my siblings when I was eight.

My daughter and I started writing and drawing in our nature journal daily. The last entry before this was in December, and now we are packing our journal full of wonderful observations, illustrations, and descriptive words each day. We are looking closely at nearby nature, and watching the seasons change from winter to spring in our yard. This is an exciting time as spring is an awakening and rebirth of life in our yards and neighborhoods.

Crocuses springing out in a front yard.

You do not need to go far to find signs of spring. We had crocuses pop up out of the dried grass and winter weeds in our flower beds around our home. This inspired us to grab our favorite picnic blanket—a blanket that has joined us on many adventures and is fine to get muddy and wet. We searched through my daughter’s stuffed animal collection to pull out the ones we do not mind maybe getting a little dirty. I dug through the back of the messy tupperware drawer and pulled out a few bowls to donate to the cause.

We spread our supplies out on our picnic blanket in our small front yard and proceeded to harvest seeds and leaves from the winter weeds out of the flower beds. All the asters and cone flowers that were beautiful in August are covered in dried seeds now, we stripped them off and made our own magic potions out of things we gathered. I loved making magic potions in the woods and collecting fun natural objects when I was a child, and I still love it. One gift of being a parent is you get to play again, and during this difficult time our children need us to play with them more than ever.

A collection of bits found in nature.

We made sweet smelling magic potions and then deposited the seeds in places we want more flowers to grow as Vermont spring progresses. Next, we gathered up some interesting natural items we happened to find and arranged them in an artistic way. The last thing we did before heading inside was turn our picnic blanket into a giant kite by running along the sidewalk each holding tight to a corner. Have fun getting out to explore your nearby nature and drop us a line to tell us what signs of spring you observe.

Rebecca Roy, Conservation Education Coordinator