This series takes you through an entire year of our nature walks and is part of our non-profit project #Earthschooling365 at www.Earthschooling.org. The photos and posts in this series are all copyrighted. Please do not share or re-print them. Instead, share the link to this blog with your friends.

Along the way I will be sharing our favorite photo of the day, an inner work meditation for the day, photography assignment/tip for the day, nature walk theme for the day and a short verse for circle time (children) or meditation (teens/adults). We invite you to “walk along with us” this year, take some time to use the inner work meditation, be inspired by the nature walk theme of the day and perhaps even start a photo series of your own. To join the community on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram please tag your photos #Earthschooling365. To receive these inspirations in your e-mail inbox daily please subscribe to our blog alerts HERE. Don’t worry about missing days – you can join us as many days as you want this year!

Every day we will post one day. We will leave up 2 weeks of nature walks at a time. At the end of two weeks each nature walk will be transferred to the Lifetime Member’s Only Blog and will be accessible only to Lifetime Earthschooling Members. If you want to own the entire series without enrolling a an Earthschooling Lifetime Package Member you can purchase the entire series for only $35.00 (for the entire year!)

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You can start your journey any day. You do not have to follow our schedule. However, we will leave up the first week of the project all year so you can follow the steps to get started.

#Earthschooling365: Day Twenty-Seven

Inner Work Meditation (Heart): Although spring has sprung in so many ways I still find pockets of ice in the creek and in puddles that have been protected by shade. And as much as I am excited for the beauty and colors of spring I also love the patterns the ice makes. It is the same with each of us when we emerge into our own “spring”. A time of renewal, growth and change can happen any time during the year. We often want that growth to happen quickly and “be done with” but as with the spring, pockets of ice will remain. Meditate today on an area where you have grown in your life and take some time to appreciate it – even with the ice that remains from the “past winter”. See the beauty in the change as well as the beauty in the past that still remains.

Nature Walk Idea (Head): Ice in nature is another form of water. During your nature walk today look for different forms of the same thing. A seed becomes a sprout and then becomes a tree. A puddle may freeze into a bit of ice. A bud transforms into a flower. How many of these “forms of the same thing” can you find today?

Photography Notes (Hands): I often think of ice as “winter fungi” because it makes many patterns (just like fungi do) and it is such a great subject for abstract photography. Although spring has come there are still little pockets of cold areas with ice. You may or may not have ice where you are. You may have fungi or other growths. Whichever you see during your walk – your assignment today is to take multiple photos of your subject and present it in an abstract manner. This is not a photo about the subject as much as it is about the shape and arrangement of the subject. To explore the subject of water in art more deeply check out our Watercolor Tutorials.

Poem

*These poems have been created for many purposes – from early childhood circle time verses to inspirational or expressive. They vary from day to day so you may find the way you use them or enjoy them also varies. If you would like to set these poems to music consider our tutorial: Creating Your Ow Waldorf Verses or Finding Your Inner Voice.

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Verse: Spring-Kissed
Copyright Kristie Burns

The flow of the bubbling creek pauses briefly to watch the ice show
Imprisoned water droplets watch friends frolic over mossy stones
Until the sun kisses them to release them from stillness

*A Sijo poem is a Korean short poetry form the 7th Century. It contains three lines of 14-16 syllables totaling 44-46 syllables. Line one presents a problem. Line two develops or “turns” the thought. Line three resolves the problem or concludes the theme. A surprise turn or twist is preferred but not always used.