TEALarbor stories’
Monday Musings are quotes, poems, & practices offering simple ways to
explore the ecotone of the inner/outer landscape.
Ten years ago I created my first dynamic nature
calendar. Without squares, days, or dates on it, my nature calendar was actually
an altar of items I would find as I daily explored the beaches, coves, forests,
fields, streams, gardens, mud patches, bushes and other outdoor areas on the
little island on which I then lived.
The calendar template was made from a wooden circle
two feet in diameter that I wrapped in silky handmade paper. I added thirty-one
smaller circles in two concentric rings to represent days of the month, and
four directional stones in the center (holding the place for north, south,
east, west as well as the four elements: air, earth, fire, water). I used a dried flower to embellish each circle until I'd added the object from my roamings outdoors. Each day I
would wander the natural areas near my home and return with a small treasure
for the calendar. I replaced a dried flower with the nature item on the next circle in the ring.
The seasons were reflected in the items I was able
to find. During autumn (October) there was an abundance of red and yellow
leaves that had fallen from the deciduous trees of my home (vine maples and
deciduous alders). In late spring’s exceedingly low tides (May), my nature
calendar displayed many unique (and creature-vacated) shells that rested on
mudflats usually-submerged. Summer’s bounty sometimes included a dead but
intact insect (a beautiful royal blue dragonfly graced one July day); winter
offered lots of moss-covered twigs that had fallen in the rainy winds (January).
This fluid marker of time, the round nature
“calendar,” mirrored my inner landscape as much as my outer one: what showed up
there were items that I found beautiful, comforting, interesting. I learned
about those collected things that I knew little about; I sat in contemplation
of what “resided” on the calendar; I honored my own need to wander the outer
landscape, and I experienced as blessings that which was offered.
I encourage you to consider this simple way to engage:
Clear a
small space on a table and mark the cardinal directions. Everyday go outside
and collect one item you see (mindful not to destroy, tear, kill any plant or
creature). Place that natural object on the table. Do so until the end of the
month. Take a photo of your full “nature calendar”; share it with others.
Respectfully clear off the items (when possible, returning back to the outdoors
where you found them those objects that will decompose). Start over at the
beginning of the following month.
I’m ready to embark on this practice again myself…Beginning anew, I will see what emerges as a calendar template for this next
series of nature wanderings.
All blog images created & photographed by Jennifer J. Wilhoit unless otherwise noted. Please circulate images with photo credit: "©2015 JenniferJWilhoit/TEALarbor stories. AllRightsReserved."
