#Earthschooling365: Day Seventy-One
Inner Work Meditation (Heart): I was talking to my teenage daughter the other day about how beautiful I thought the wildflowers were on the lawn and how I wished I didn’t have to mow them down and she told me a story. When she was little a friend of hers would always pick a bouquet of wildflowers (also known by some as weeds) and bring them to her mother. Sofi was often with this friend when she arrived home with the bouquet and she said that the mother would take the bouquet and immediately throw it in the garbage “because they were weeds”. In her head she remembered the story being representative of a little girl trying to “pass of free flowers as a gift” and the mother “being smart enough to know they had no value”. The story broke my heart. Today, take some time to think about the gifts that others give you every day. Do you take the time to realize the value they really have? Try to see beyond the weeds and look at the heart of the gift giver, for that is where the gift really is.
Nature Walk Idea (Head): Today’s assignment is to identify the stages a plant goes through on your nature walk. You can start the process today and continue observing the same plant over the course of the next few months or you can talk about and observe a plant you have already been keeping track of from past nature walks. An easy one to start with is the dandelion. Without observing the plant closely over the next few months most people are familiar with the different stages. It starts as a green bud, this bud then opens up slightly to expose some yellow. The yellow then opens up all the way to become a giant rounded yellow flower. After this flower fades it becomes a thick fluff which then closes up again into a green bud filled with soft fluff. The other day I watched a little finch pick the fluffy seeds out of one of these dandelions and eat them one by one. After this stage the dandelion opens up again so all the seeds are on display like in the photo above. The wind then disperses these seeds far and near. It all ends with a little brown ball on top of a stem without seeds. Students can draw the stages of the plant in their Main Lesson Books or adults can journal these pictures.
Photography Notes (Hands): Today’s assignment is to focus, once more, on geometric figures you can include in your photo to capture the viewer’s attention. Yesterday we used the “half circle”. Today we will use the circular shape. Above you will see how I used the circular shape of the dandelion to add abstract interest to the photo. Below, you will see a photo I saved from May 8th that uses the same technique. In one photo the object is actually circular. In the second photo the circle is created by many leaves that have arranged themselves in a circular pattern. Having the leaves arranged in a circular manner gives order and design to a photo that would otherwise be chaotic. The circular pattern caused by the raindrops adds even more circular patterns to the image. Today your assignment is to create a photo that features a circular pattern.
Verse: The Gift
Copyright Kristie Burns
Dainty purple violets
Wild daisies dusted with gold
Sunlit saffron dandelions
Her small hands did hold
Priceless value upon them
Her mother did impart
Knowing the real gift
Grew in her heart
*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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