Nature Poem #1

In these woods,
a secret is hidden.
It is found,
by only a few.

Beyond the polluted tree line,
lies a "secret garden" of sorts,
a magical place,
where all is possible.

As the soft bird chirps provide the soundtrack,
your ideas can flourish,
solutions can be found,
and stress fades away.

As a soft breeze blows,
you forget the world,
except the nature around you.
There, you have found peace.

The clean air,
clears your mind,
leaves the past,
in the past.

Any mistakes you have made,
no longer matter,
for in nature,
all is as it should be.

Everyone is equal,
no injustices have occurred,
the world is a place of peace,
but only in that secret garden.

Nature Poem #2

The rain pours down,
the trees bend and wave,
just like the campers
and tents at that familiar old park.

The weatherman warned
of the dangerous storms,
and urged us all
to take shelter right then.

But we had nowhere to go,
no place to hide
from the danger
nature can have.

We went to the old bathhouse,
it was sturdy and strong,
just like the trees
that buckled in the wind.

We heard the wind whistling
from our safe hideaway,
thankful for our sturdy hideaway,
for it did not budge just like the strong sturdy bases of those trembling trees,
even when everything else was swaying and falling in the strong winds,
that bathhouse stayed strong in those heavy winds, and kept us safe.

When the winds pick up
I can still see the rocking campers,
the soon to be broken awnings,
all in the waving of the trees.

Nature Photograph/Art Contest

We went on a hike throughout the woods with the task to find and capture the best photograph we could, for we would vote on a winner who would get a prize.  We all set off as hopeful as ever each with a slight air of confidence, some larger than others.  When we came in from our hike we had to chose the best picture in our table group which would then go against those from the other table groups in our class and would be voted upon.  My picture, shown below, received five votes, making it the winner.

When taking this photo I remembered a quote from Disney's Mulan, "The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all."

The Winning Photo Taken by Yours Truly.

P.S.- My prize was an orange cream soda.  It was really good, it was GMO free and micro-brewed.  I found both of these things extremely millenial-ish but it was a good soda I have to admit.

Forest Bathing

Recently a new trend has spread to the U.S., it became popular in the West in 2012, and is slowly spreading to the U.S. gaining more popularity each year.   In Japan this trend is called Shrin-yoku which translates to the american name of forest bathing.  The objective of forest bathing, similar to yoga, is to calm you and improve your health.  Forest bathing is often called the next yoga, as it has spread very similar to it and has a very similar goal.  Forest bathing is very simple, its just spending time near trees.  The thought is that trees emit a substance that calms you, lowers you heart rate, and lowers your blood pressure.  You can forest bathe by taking a picnic in nature, going on a hike, or working or reading in nature.  There are also guided forest bathing tours that you can take in many large cities.  Part of this is because in large cities where the practice is most popular there are few foresty areas, and even fewer the average person knows how to get to and hike around in.  These paid tours can have high prices, yet it is still a booming business.

For more information on this topic:
https://qz.com/804022/health-benefits-japanese-forest-bathing/

Narrative from Nature Sounds

Disclaimer:

***Dave couldn't very well move around the forest as he is a tree, and trees can't move, but for all purposes of this story he can think to himself and talk to anything that isn't a human.***

As Dave sat in his spot where he had always been he heard all the sounds of the forest.  There were some that he found calming, others that made him happy and that he loved dearly, yet still there were others that truly terrified him, as he couldn't move away.  The sound that had scared him most since he was a you sapling had always been the hooting of the Bard Owl.  This particular owl is bigger than many of its close relatives, making the threat it can pose to small saplings were it to land on one much greater than those posed by other smaller owls.  Whenever he heard their hoots nearby he wished he could do like the humans so often do and run away from whatever fear or problems plague them.

Fave had lived with this fear for a long time, but nothing had happened between Dave and the owls in a long time,  not since Dave was still growing.  He heard the noises growing closer and wondered what it was, then he had not yet learned the danger the owls posed, the sound of their hoot, or what they even looked like.  He didn't know of the immense danger one of those owls could pose to mere sapling such as himself.  As the owl grew closer he realized it was flying right towards him.  He felt blessed by the presence of such a wonderful creature.  That was until the creature landed.  it hit one of his branches but immediately fell to the ground, as he broke one of poor Dave's small branches.  No matter, he has still remained terrified of them to this day.

He had had several close encounters since then, but nothing as terrifying as that day had been one day last fall Dave was enjoying looking around at all the beautiful colors his friends had displayed all across their leaves, that was until he heard the noise he dreaded so much.  The bird flew closer towards Dave, but thankfully landed far up on a much bigger tree's branch near Dave.  Since that first encounter with an owl Dave had learned to fear them, and it made his entire life harder, constantly being terrified that at any moment one of those creatures could swoop by seemingly out of no where and tear away a part of him.  That constant ever-present fear was what led Dave to become friends with the kind photographer that has scared away one of those wretched creatures one day, whether the kind human with a camera knew of their friendship or not.

Be on the look out for a possible second installment on this story, I would love to continue this story in the direction of their friendship, but it all just depends on how much time I end up having.  

Litter Pick-up

"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much," today we went out as a class to pickup litter.  Together we made our campus a better place, but had only one person done this only a fraction of the mass amounts of garbage found throughout campus would have been collected.  Through group efforts made the biggest impact on the growing pollution problem even the smallest changes can help.  "Be the change you want to see in the world," if you want the world to be pollution free, go outside and pickup some litter! Every change starts with just one person.

Picture of all the trash we collected made into a satirical meme.
Picture taken, edited, and memed by me.

Haskell Mandala Imitation

A long time ago there was a tree that bloomed with beautiful white flowers like no one had ever seen.  This tree was visited by bees and hummingbirds that spread the pollen from the flowers all around, and helped to create more of this tree.  This goes on and on, as it is the cycle of life for a Flowering Dogwood Tree.  Dave is the product of thousands of years of this cycle.  Dave happens, to be located right next to a middle and high school where students learn about all the famous people in history who have interacted with his ancestors.  He is a decedent of the tree used to make the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  Now a days the closest Dave's family line gets to being saved forever in time, is being captured in the background of a picture.  But when I found Dave at the edge of the woods I knew he was a tree that had a rich history.  As a photographer I began to take photos of him.  I found that Dave was a tree who enjoyed having his picture taken.  He gave me some very wonderful photos, and didn't move in the wind as I took the photos as some trees often do.  Dave has green leaves that are slightly red, mostly around the edges, and white flowers, many of which are still only buds.  The dogwood tree at the edge of woods has thin branches that start about two to two and a half feet from the ground, it is about ten feet from the walkway up to the wooden platform.  Dave, while he loves to be photographed, he is quite shy and stays hidden behind a large, tall tree with a circumference of about three feet.  Dave has flowers that are beginning to bloom in the warm spring weather of Southeastern Tennessee, some of the clusters of leaves have yet to form buds but they will, and the entire tree will be covered in flowers by the end of the spring.  These flowers are white like the pages of a fresh unmarked composition book.  The leaves of this fabulous tree are its livelihood, it would die without them, and they have been given a beautiful coloring that perfectly communicates their importance to the plant I have named Dave. 

Some of Dave's flowers and leaves.