"My Spot in the Woods"

Possibly my favorite magazine is The Tennessee Conservationist, and certainly one every Tennessean who loves nature should subscribe to for just $15 a year or less with multiple year subscriptions, for 6 large, nature-packed issues featuring everything nature, the wonderful Tennessee State Parks, and page-fulls of beautiful nature photos. I love it! Only Nature Photographer magazine compares!

Cindy Potter with a student in "Her Spot"

The feature article in this 2014 July-August issue is titled "My Spot in the Woods" by Mary Priestly, reporting on the terrific annual 6th Grade school project by Cindy Potter, at St. Andrews-Sewanee School in the South Cumberland, my favorite hiking area. Once each month during the school year, regardless of weather, each child spends time in the same spot in a nearby forest (Shakerag Hollow) writing down their observations; what they see, hear, smell, and feel. Back in the classroom each child uses those notes to write a short essay on "My Spot in the Woods" for that month. It is typed and posted on a hallway bulletin board. The following months are posted on top so that someone could read through the changing observations. The kids also memorize something from one or more nature poems/writings of their choice by authors like John Muir, Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting, Robert Frost's "Who Has Seen the Wind," or Wendell Berry's "The Peace of Wild Things." I think this is so wonderful and maybe even better than how I experience the woods as a Boy Scout at that age. Nature is life-changing, formative, and enriching is so many ways!

The July/August 2013 issue of The Tennessee Conservationist featured the similar process that David George Haskell experienced in his daily trips to his same spot in the woods. The article by Rosanna O. Salmon is titled "Find the Inspiration to Observe Nature" but is unfortunately not archived on the magazine's website. But David recorded it all in his book The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature. It inspired me to start my nature blog called Nature Notes on which I assume you are reading this. I've never made it a true daily effort, yet I encourage you to see what I have recorded frequently for nearly two years now. This year has focused a lot on my 3-times a week bike ride on two Nashville green-ways, though there are still state park and other trip reports plus my backyard nature which was the major focus last year. Nature is everywhere and just seeing it makes our lives richer!

I hope you grow richer this week by spending some time in the woods!   :-) 

Nature Journaling

The November-December 2012 issue of Tennessee Conservationist magazine has an excellent article on nature journaling for all ages that I recommend. And I also recommend that magazine as one of the best nature magazines anywhere, but especially if living in or near Tennessee. There is also a very good Sierra Club article online about Nature Journaling with a free downloadable PDF file template. From it this introduction:

John Muir, a founding member and first president of the

sought to preserve wild places and is considered the Father

of Our National Parks, and especially of Yosemite. Muir

wrote in his journals about the beauty he saw in nature.

He drew pictures detailing information about plants,

animals, mountains and landscapes. He used his

journals to compose letters to friends, articles, and books

to share his love of nature and enlist people’s support to

preserve wilderness. Marion Parsons, a mountaineer and

early Sierra Club leader who helped him write his last

book, tied red ribbon around his writings to organize

them in his "scribble den" at the family ranch in

Martinez, California.

x

of Our National Parks, and especially of Yosemite. Muir

wrote in his journals about the beauty he saw in nature.

He drew pictures detailing information about plants,

animals, mountains and landscapes. He used his

journals to compose letters to friends, articles, and books

to share his love of nature and enlist people’s support to

preserve wilderness. Marion Parsons, a mountaineer and

early Sierra Club leader who helped him write his last

book, tied red ribbon around his writings to organize

them in his "scribble den" at the family ranch in

Martinez, California.

x

wrote in his journals about the beauty he saw in nature.

He drew pictures detailing information about plants,

animals, mountains and landscapes. He used his

journals to compose letters to friends, articles, and books

to share his love of nature and enlist people’s support to

preserve wilderness. Marion Parsons, a mountaineer and

early Sierra Club leader who helped him write his last

book, tied red ribbon around his writings to organize

them in his "scribble den" at the family ranch in

Martinez, California.

x

He drew pictures detailing information about plants,

animals, mountains and landscapes. He used his

journals to compose letters to friends, articles, and books

to share his love of nature and enlist people’s support to

preserve wilderness. Marion Parsons, a mountaineer and

early Sierra Club leader who helped him write his last

book, tied red ribbon around his writings to organize

them in his "scribble den" at the family ranch in

Martinez, California.

x

animals, mountains and landscapes. He used his

journals to compose letters to friends, articles, and books

to share his love of nature and enlist people’s support to

preserve wilderness. Marion Parsons, a mountaineer and

early Sierra Club leader who helped him write his last

book, tied red ribbon around his writings to organize

them in his "scribble den" at the family ranch in

Martinez, California.

x

journals to compose letters to friends, articles, and books

to share his love of nature and enlist people’s support to

preserve wilderness. Marion Parsons, a mountaineer and

early Sierra Club leader who helped him write his last

book, tied red ribbon around his writings to organize

them in his "scribble den" at the family ranch in

Martinez, California.

x

to share his love of nature and enlist people’s support to

preserve wilderness. Marion Parsons, a mountaineer and

early Sierra Club leader who helped him write his last

book, tied red ribbon around his writings to organize

them in his "scribble den" at the family ranch in

Martinez, California.

x

preserve wilderness. Marion Parsons, a mountaineer and

early Sierra Club leader who helped him write his last

book, tied red ribbon around his writings to organize

them in his "scribble den" at the family ranch in

Martinez, California.

x

early Sierra Club leader who helped him write his last

book, tied red ribbon around his writings to organize

them in his "scribble den" at the family ranch in

Martinez, California.

x

book, tied red ribbon around his writings to organize

them in his "scribble den" at the family ranch in

Martinez, California.

x

them in his "scribble den" at the family ranch in

Martinez, California.

x

Martinez, California.

x

Martinez, California.

Sierra Club, studied and cared about wilderness. He

sought to preserve wild places and is considered the Father

of Our National Parks, and especially of Yosemite. Muir

wrote in his journals about the beauty he saw in nature.

He drew pictures detailing information about plants,

animals, mountains and landscapes. He used his

journals to compose letters to friends, articles, and books

to share his love of nature and enlist people’s support to

preserve wilderness. Marion Parsons, a mountaineer and

early Sierra Club leader who helped him write his last

book, tied red ribbon around his writings to organize

them in his "scribble den" at the family ranch in