Phenology: Observing Mother Nature’s Cycles

This post was originally published on March 12, 2014. Seven years ago! Since then, I’ve moved from PA to CO, and Sarah’s moved from PA to NC to WA. Wow. I can say for certain that both of us are still getting to know our new home states, and something that brings us joy is understanding the seasonal variations.
This desire to know my place came up for me this week. I was hiking and realized that I could identify more plants, even in their deadened winter state, than I could last year. BUT I also realized that I wanted to make a recipe that called for newly developed evergreen needles, and I realized that I didn’t know exactly when the firs and spruces put out their new needles. Is it soon? Do I have to wait until June? I have no clue, but I bet by next year I’ll know. 

What do you know about the natural cycles of the plants and animals where you live?

Rothrock State Forrest early spring, before the Mountain Laurel blooms

Rothrock State Forrest early spring, before the Mountain Laurel blooms

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Getting Outside : Kids Edition

This post was originally published as part of an ongoing series where we share ideas, big and small, for getting outside. Our first post shared a few ideas for getting outside at every energy and adventure level. Sarah followed-up with suggestions for week-day doses of outside time. We also wrote another post that suggested taking advantage of the awesome national and state park programs.

We’re republishing the post because we realize that everyone is social-isolating at home with their kids for an extended period of time. With all of those hours together, this is the perfect opportunity to create new, healthy habits. Something we’re passionate about is spending time in nature with Alex and Luc.

Have you seen the headlines?

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Honestly, this shouldn’t be that hard of a task, but in the craziness that is life getting outside with kids can be hard. Here are our tips for helping to get you and your kids out the door and into nature. Continue reading

Getting Outside : Week Day Doses

*As the corona virus is pushing us to stay home, it doesn’t mean that it has to keep us inside! We’re re-publishing this post with the hopes that you’ll take care of your mental and physical health by finding moments to get outside.

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Recently Katie shared a great post encouraging you to Get Outside! In it, she included a bunch of tips for heading out the door and after reading it, I wanted to focus on the first one: Take it easy. You don’t need an epic adventure to reap the benefits of nature. This is so true and something that’s often forgotten.

Getting outside is as simple as leaving the four walls that confine you. That’s it. Step out into the light.

I know I know this, that we all know this, but I think it was made even more clear to me while attending Adventure Fridays at Townsend Bertram & Co last week. On the third Friday of every month, TB&C invites the community to a free event to listen to an adventurous speaker and drink free beer from Steel String Brewery. The community gathers, gains inspiration, and then chats for a bit before parting ways.

Last week’s message was about the therapeutic nature of the outdoors. How nature heals us, makes us happier, and healthier humans. That was actually the main focus of my July Crafting Ritual and Cultivating Mindfulness Retreat. I was excited to go and learn from these ladies and to share my own experiences. When I arrived, I was delighted to see that the event was being held on the back deck of the shop instead of inside. This simple shift caused the whole crew of 20-30 people to spend two hours outside that otherwise would have been spent inside. I even came home with a few simple tips for spending even more time outside.

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Spend More Minutes Outside:

  • Eat breakfast, drink coffee or tea outside each morning
  • Make phone calls outdoors
  • Pay bills outside
  • Fold laundry on your porch
  • Hang up a hammock or set up a chill spot outside
  • Invest in an outdoor hobby that doesn’t require much like hiking, biking, disk golf, etc
  • Set up an outdoor play spot (for kids this could be as simple as a rock pit, for adults as easy as a basketball hoop or disk golf hole)
  • Treat your dog walk as your own walk instead of a chore
  • Read outside whether it’s the newspaper, your kid’s report card, or your novel
  • Walk to get your mail instead of picking it up out of your car window
  • Walk to the coffee shop, post office, or any errands that are nearby
  • Eat outdoors – whether it’s at home or at a restaurant
  • Make it a family thing, maybe you walk around the block every evening before bedtime
  • Commute outdoors, even if it’s once a week, you could cycle or walk every Wednesday
  • Schedule outdoor time, sometimes all it takes is holding ourselves accountable
  • Don’t hesitate to visit the same trail you’ve hiked a hundred times, you haven’t seen it on this day at this hour
  • End your evening with wine, beer, or a smoke on your stoop
  • Shower outside (better start working on that outdoor shower 😉 )
  • Sleep on a sleeping porch (okay, this one also requires you to have a sleeping porch, but man I want one!)

These ideas may seem simple and yet how often do we act on them? Just yesterday, I decided to make some calls while sitting out on my stoop. Normally, I would dread calling AAA and the mechanic and my cell phone company, but as I sat outside I was able to hear the bugs and the birds, watch a silly squirrel shoving way too many nuts in its mouth, and meet a new neighbor and dog. All of which wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t pop out to make the calls. Think of all the magical little moments you’re missing when you’re doing the mundane inside? Take it outdoors!

Seattle Weekend Getaway and Day Hike to Colchuck Lake – Central Cascades

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If you’re looking for an amazing autumn getaway near Seattle and you’ve already visited the beautiful crystal clear Blue Lake, head to Colchuck Lake as it is just as gorgeous! Another alpine lake, Colchuck Lake is surrounded by mountains and lined with plenty of boulders to sit on and snack the afternoon away. Take a dip if you dare, but remember your quick-dry towel and warm puffy jacket because Colchuck Lake sits at an elevation of 5,570 feet. We hiked Colchuck during the final weekend of September when the undergrowth was popping with color, the air was crisp, the sun was hiding, and the breeze encouraged a quick pace to the top.

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Nature Books Master List : Kid Edition

It’s Amazon Prime Day, so we’re re-sharing some of our favorite book posts. Below is our master list of nature-related books for kids.

We love good books. Who doesn’t?

Below you’ll find a running list of our favorite nature books for kids. Have something to recommend? Let us know in the comments!

If you’d like to learn more about some of the books on this list? Check out this post.  And we wrote about our favorite kids’ beach reads here. And a tree focused post here.

Finally, you’ll find our full archive of book-related posts here.

UP & DOWN/OVER & UNDER Series

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt

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Daily Dose of Exercise

Katie mentioned in our Welcome May post that we have an exercise initiative this month. We are challenging ourselves to a bit of exercise every single day. Remember when we were encouraging you to Get Outside? Well, it’s as easy as that. We’re not running marathons or working on a squat max, we’re simply trying to sweat a little bit each day of May and beyond. I made a simple goal in my phone for the month: be too busy for Facebook and sweat enough each day that a shower is necessary.

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Exercising is as simple as leaving your house and going for a walk. Start easy, start free.

You don’t need an intense workout plan and a protein smoothie to consider your activity exercise. Ease into this goal if you’re new to exercising on the regular. Make it enjoyable so that you stick with it.

  • Step out into your backyard or onto your city block and start walking. There you go, today’s exercise goal is started. Now keep going!
  • Pick activities that are free. You don’t need to pay for a walk. Shooting hoops doesn’t cost a dime. Dropping down in a plank while your kid is playing on the playground is free and potentially inspiring to other moms and dads.
  • Get to know your neighborhood. Where are there hidden opportunities for exercise? Maybe there are monkey bars at a nearby playground or a trail that needs to be hiked. Maybe it’s finally time to check out that rock climbing gym or the local yoga studio.

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Sarah’s Favorite Wilderness Reads

Happy Earth Day! I just returned from eight days in the Himalayas with no wifi and it was absolutely wonderful. During that time I spent hours each day reading. If you find yourself out in the woods or simply wanting to dream about them, here are a few of my favorite wilderness reads. I linked to the paperback versions, so pull out your headlamp and start flippin’ pages.

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Mycophilia: Revalations from the Weird World of Mushrooms – This is the type of book where you read a few pages and then run into the next room to tell someone else all the cool things you just learned. Mycophilia is a beautifully written first person narrative of the fungi world. Author Eugenia Bone meets masters of the mushroom sphere as she discovers and researches all type of uses from scientific to culinary. If you have any interest in mushrooms, I highly recommend this informative read.

John Muir – any of his essays or journals – I actually recommend Muir’s writings as a way to fall asleep and here I’m recommending it as inspiration for your own nature journals and writings. Reading about Muir’s adventures will have you sitting in your cozy camp chair in admiration as he details his romps in the wilderness with nothing more than a heel of bread and an army blanket.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail – Made famous because of the movie, Wild, is a first person account of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail completely unprepared. These types of accounts encourage me to just do it. Stop the research and prep, go for it and see what happens. I enjoyed both the movie and the book – in that order too.

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail – Bill Bryson’s account of the Appaliachian trail blends his witty walk in the woods with the history of the wilderness and suggestions for how we can conserve our wild lands. As someone who is itching to walk the AT, I love reading about others’ experiences with the trail.

Into the Wild – You probably know the story, but have you read the book? Into the Wild is one of those stories that has always stayed with me because I see so many similarities between myself and the main character, Chris McCandless. I also noticed the public’s split opinion, some feeling bad for Chris, while other’s did not and were almost angry with him because he was in the wilderness messing around. I find it interesting that any of us, even the most prepared, think that we’re capable of mastering mother nature. He did the best he could. RIP Chris.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values – This book. I need to come clean here.. by the time I finished this book, I absolutely hated it. I was treking at high altitude and ripping out pages and burning them when I was finished. I was so over it. Cut to today and I’ve realized many, many times that Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance has had an enormous impact on how I view quality (a term that pops up at least 3,000 times in this book) and work. Believe it or not, I just ordered it again so I can read it with appreciation this time.

That’s that! My very favorite books to read outdoors. A perfect mix of inspiration and admiration lie within these pages. Don’t have any camping plans coming up? No problem, I’m in the habbit of turning off all my lights, opening the windows (to let the sounds of insects in) and reading by headlamp. At my little hut here in Chapel Hill, I feel like I’m in a tent in the middle of the woods 🙂

 

 

 

Getting Outside : Set a Park Goal

Unless you’re hiding under a rock, you’ve likely seen the headlines and reports that getting outside and into nature is good for us… and if you’re under a rock, then getting outside is the least of your problems.

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This past fall, we did a mini-series sharing ideas, big and small, for getting outside. Our first post shared a few ideas for getting outside at every energy and adventure level. Sarah followed-up with suggestions for week-day doses of outside time. We also wrote another post that suggested taking advantage of the awesome national and state park programs.

Today we’re encouraging you to create your own park adventure…

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Seasoned View Vol. 32

You can upload one or all of these photos to use as your desktop background or even as phone and tablet wallpapers.  These images were all shot in the backyard of our childhood home near Shamokin, Pennsylvania. We were lucky enough to grow up on seventy acres of mostly woods, some fields of wildflowers, and just a little bit of mowed lawn.

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