#Earthschooling365: Day Ninety-Four
Inner Work Meditation (Heart): Today I snapped a quick shot of a baby robin in a tree. There was nothing amazing about the photo itself but the story behind it is amazing to me. For the past six weeks I had been following the life of some baby robins. I watched their mother sit on the nest, I saw them chirping for food when they were just a few days old and I took some photos of their mother feeding them when they were just a week old. I was also following another nest (some chickadees) at the same time. Two weeks ago both nests were ravaged by raccoons and all the babies were eaten and the nests torn apart. So when I saw this baby robin today I appreciated how amazing his existence truly was. Today’s meditation is to take some time to contemplate that in our own lives and those around us. What we often see is a “quick picture” of people and nature like the one I took below and we don’t consider it very amazing. However, if we take some time to think about what it took for that piece of nature, that bird, that mammal or that person to come into existence and to be standing before you today – that realization can evoke new feelings and connections within you.
Nature Walk Idea (Head): Today we saw a baby bunny and a baby robin. The baby bunny was almost the size of a larger rabbit but we could tell he was still a baby because he still had some baby fluff along with his adult fur. The baby robin (above) was already the size of an adult but still had it’s baby spots. That was the only way we could tell it was a baby. All animals, insects, plants and birds look different when they are babies, when they are “teens” and when they are adults. On your nature walk today identify some “young” plants, birds, animals or insects and list the ways in which you can tell they are babies and not adults.
Photography Notes (Hands): Today I took a photo of a rabbit with a little sunbeam falling onto him and lighting up his ears. Rabbits are not unusual subjects on my nature walk and often, if you show someone a picture of a rabbit they would say “yes, that’s a rabbit…so…?” However, in the photo below I took a “boring” subject and made it more interesting by adding back lighting, capturing an unusual angle of the sun where the rabbit was “spotlighted” and featuring the detail in the rabbit’s fur. Today’s assignment for you is to use spotlighting to make a “boring” subject more interesting. You can use natural light, light coming from a lamp or even a flash-light. Your subject could be a flower, a bird, an animal or even a chair or a cup. Take the photo so that the main light is falling on your subject. Take a lot of photos and choose the one you like best.
Verse: The Universal Journey
Copyright Kristie Burns
Avian migration
Great feathered journey
Canada to South America
Africa to Europe
One cannot comprehend
The significance
That spans such distances
But the greatest pilgrimage
Is from the tiny egg
Mother bird keeping each one
The perfect temperature
A precarious balance
Between cold and hot
Struggling to emerge
Chirping to be fed
Competing with siblings
For a nourishing morsel
Crouching in the depths
Of a stick shelter
Under the stars
Protected from predators
By a simple pine bough
Finally, perching
Edge of the childhood nest
Trying their wings
For the first time
Risking life with their
First flight
Migration is only the
Second voyage
For they have already
Overcome the most difficult
Passage of their lives
*One of the messages of this poem is that when we feel we have a journey ahead of us that is frightening, long or challenging we can remember that we have already been successful in the greatest journey of all.
*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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Waldorf curriculum
Steiner inner work
Iowa photographer
Free Waldorf curriculum
Nature table
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