#Earthschooling365: Day Seventy
Inner Work Meditation (Heart): As I am writing this now I am watching a tiny mole peek his eyes and nose up from the ground underneath our birdbath. I didn’t even know we had moles in our yard! And on today’s nature walk I found another surprise – some baby bunnies in the tall grass. It always surprises me what lies beneath the surface we can see on our nature walk. In the same way people often surprise me as well. I would love to say that I am able to read people extremely well because of all my years working as a consultant and my focus on The Temperaments. However, no matter what kind of expertise one has with people they will always find a way to surprise you. There is always something beneath the surface that you might be missing for years. I certainly have never seen a mole in our backyard and we have lived here for ten years! Today, take some time to meditate on how you might be able to observe someone in a different way, keep an open mind, ask some questions, observe someone’s interactions with others or use another method to learn something about them that is new. Or, think about the things you keep beneath your own “surface” and meditate on at least one way you can share that with at least one other person.
Nature Walk Idea (Head): Today I found a little patch of baby bunnies. You can barely see them in the photo below because I didn’t want to disturb them. In fact they were almost impossible to see in person as well. Once again, I used a clue in nature to find them. I saw a larger rabbit running away from a spot in the grass. Usually that simply means that a rabbit has seen you and wants to get out of the way. However, in the spring time I always go to the spot they were at and check. Because in springtime this often means that they are running away from a little clutch of babies to lure you away from the spot. Today’s nature walk assignment is to observe nature signs like we have done so many times before but consider how those signs change with the weather or the season. Moss on trees is a good example.
For example, a popular myth says you can tell which direction you are heading by observing moss on the trees. Moss is said to grow on the North side of a tree trunk. However, this is not always true. However, moss can actually grown on any side of a tree. If you look at all the trees in an area it will most likely be more populous on the North sides of the trees. However, other factors can impact moss growth such as shade from a rock or other tree, moisture and mounds of earth. So, in rainy weather, moss will be growing in more areas than just the North side of the tree. Be sure to ask the right questions and consider all factors before using just moss to decide the direction in the woods.
Photography Notes (Hands): Today’s assignment is to consider the half-circle curve. There are a number of geometric shapes we can consider in photography that all help create a good photo. One of these is the half circle shape. You can see this shape in the lower right hand photo of the collage posted today. As a review, also note that the photo on the lower left is a good example of a leading line going into the photograph. Curves can also draw a person into your photo. Today’s assignment is to take a photo with a half circle curve. This curve can be in any format. It does not need to be a pathway. It could be a body, a flower, a tree or even an imaginary shape created by a natural growth that happens to be in a half-circle form.
Verse: Bunny
Copyright Kristie Burns
This verse is extremely fun for young children to recite. It also lends itself to a little movement or dance action during circle time.
Hoppity-Loppity
Flippity-Flop
Wiggelty-Wiggle
Hurdley-Pop
Skippity-Lippity
Bouncey-Flounce
Skittery-Sneak
Springy-Pounce
Twitchity-Leap
Boogie-Funny
Sideways-Shimmy
That’s the bunny
*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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