#Earthschooling365: Day Forty-Nine
Inner Work Meditation (Heart): Earlier in the month I told you a story about the deer that was so worried about me being near him that when he sneezed he jumped and scared himself. Today we will talk about a different reaction. The deer today are so entranced with the sweet new leaf buds that they are allowing me much closer than usual. There are many ways in which I could interpret this but today this reminded me of my phlegmatic/water type son. He is not usually very comfortable with people getting close to him or his feelings (typical water type/phlegmatic) but if I can distract him with something he loves he is much more comfortable sharing and opening up. Typically when I want to connect with him I will eat a meal with him or play a board game with him. When he was a younger child I would always get board games out and within a few moments he would be chatting with me about all sorts of things. Take some time today to think about someone (spouse/family member/student/friend) in your life that you would like to get closer to. Perhaps taking the focus off of them will help them open up to you. Not everyone is comfortable with the direct approach.
Nature Walk Idea (Head): Before I started recording my nature walks in such detail I never really noticed how many animals enjoy the first leaf buds of spring. Squirrels will climb to the top of the tallest trees to get the newest and greenest leaf buds and deer will ignore all humans within a reasonable distance so they don’t have to give up a particularly delicious bunch of buds they are munching on. Today on your nature walk take some time to watch each animal you see (or choose a category from birds, insects or mammals). What are they eating? Take note of this. You can make this same observation once a month (I will not remind you so keep your book handy and remember to leave space for 12 more observations this year). What are the animals eating this time of year? Later in the year when you have more data compare the data. Do they eat the same foods all year round? I remember learning about black bears and their eating habits and thought it was very funny that although they love honey and berries and other vegetation that in the late summer before hibernation they feast on ants to provide them with a lot of protein and fat for the coming winter months.
Photography Notes (Hands): Today we will do some more aperture review by taking a look at the photos from today’s post and your own photos. I think there is something I could have done today to make my photos of the deer eating a bit better. What do you think? Imagine if I had used a lower f-stop. Wouldn’t it have been nicer to have the background a little more out of focus? I find that the photos of the deer eating I took today have too much in focus so it distracts from the subject (the deer). However, the photo I took of the deer crossing the lane is exactly how I wanted it to appear. My reason for taking that photo was to show the environment in which the urban deer are living. So in that case the higher f-stop (resulting in wider depth-of-field/focus on the entire photo) worked.
Your question for today is: How could I have changed the photos to create more focus on the deer? Your assignment for today is to take a photo with a wide depth-of-field (higher f-stop) where the depth-of-field is essential to the photo (landscapes and abstracts are the typical choice here).
Verse: Nature Nonet
Copyright Kristie Burns
Nibbling intensely on fresh leaf bloom
Nose wiggles, ears twitch, dark eyes swoon
Tail flicks, wind ripples tan coat
Blooms brush elegant throat
Sunlight dapples fur
Adorned with burr
Long legs still
Strong will
Doe
**A Nonet is a nine line poem, with the first line containing nine syllables, the next eight, so on until the last line has one syllable. Nonets can be written about any subject, and rhyming is optional. Note that I chose to pronounce the word “nibbling” with two syllables although one could also pronounce it with three.
*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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What is #Earthschooling365?
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!
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