Our December days are accented with color….right in our own yard.
My husband brought some granite rocks into the front yard when we remodeled and I am so happy to see that they are alive with moss and lichens of a variety of colors. Now when I walk down my front path I will see some living things that have made themselves at home…that makes me happy.
There are still leaves falling each day from the colorful trees and I love the way this red leaf fell among the yellow-green leaves. Now that I look at the photo closely, I notice there is a mushroom peeking through on the top left side.
The gray skies of December have a different feel to them and give the afternoon a somber cast. The sweet gum tree is all dressed up with its sticker balls and a few remaining red-orange leaves. I find myself looking up at the sky more in the winter….checking the sky for clouds, looking for birds, viewing the world that opens up when the leaves are gone.
I feel a whole series of December World posts coming on as I work my way through my photos from this week. Using photography to capture your world is not only an easy way to document your time outdoors but it can be therapeutic to see the world through the lens of your camera. You get to focus on the small and the big.
Up early a few days ago on a brilliant autumn morning, I noticed one of our sweet gum trees ablaze with the sunrise. It looked like a torch against the blue sky all lit up with the morning rays.
The curious thing about this tree is that it still has most of its leaves. You can see in the photo there are similar trees on either side of it that have lost all but a few of their leaves. Three trees…all the same kind….all planted at the same time…..one decides to keep its leaves. Curious.
“The autumn leaf which glows gold or red, has in it only the material which the tree can no longer use. It is a mistake to believe that the frost causes the brilliant colors of autumn foliage, they are caused by the natural old age and death of the leaves-and where is there to be found old age and death more beautiful? When the leaf assumes its bright colors, it is making ready to depart from the tree; a thin, corky layer is being developed between the petiole and the twig, and when this is perfected, the leaf drops from its own weight or the touch of the slightest breeze.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 622
Here is another tree that is planted on the side of our house and it is amazingly tall and colorful. The birds like to sit in this tree and sing in the summer time but now they are mostly gone.
I spotted a house sparrow in this tree off the side of our deck. The sparrows are regular visitors to our feeders and stick around the whole year. This one seemed to be enjoying the sunrise.
Our December World still has a fragrance. I stepped out the front door and down the steps and out of habit I reached to touch the lavender next to the stairway. Running my hand along the leaves and then placing my hand up to my face, I smell a summer smell. The leaves this time of year are a silvery-gray-green but they hold a sweet lavender smell that I adore.
Rosemary
My eyes started looking for other things that might have fragrance and I spotted my new rosemary plants up by the birdfeeder. They still have a few purple blossoms on the ends and as I kneel to take a photo or two I spot a bee buzzing near-by! I am surprised.
Violet
Around the corner and back to the back steps I spot my favorite cold weather fragrant flower…the violet. There are just a few starting to bloom but each flower holds a potent gift of violet goodness. Besides….who can resist a purple flower?
Oregano-Still a few leaves to pluck and bring up to the kitchen.
My garden is pretty much sleeping for the winter but tucked into Mr. B’s box are a few herbs and these give a fragrance to winter as well. He has thyme, oregano, and chives all hanging in there despite our cold temperatures.
Peas late in the season
I notice that the peas we tucked in the box a few months ago have woke up and are growing. It will be interesting to see if they continue to grow.
Garden box and my leaf pile.
The rest of the garden is pretty much done and the pile of leaves there in the background will soon be spread over the remaining boxes as a nice winter blanket. The smell of the leaves as they decay is rich and potent, ever promising to protect the few plants that are left for the winter and then to enrich the soil when we till them under in the spring.
So there you have our fragrant December World….perhaps you have some smell that reminds of the coming winter. I encourage you to open your sense of smell this month and see if you can discover some odor to enjoy. Wood smoke? Pine boughs?
Thanks to Palmy from Mens Sana who sent me a link to her fragrance entry….you will need to translate if you don’t speak Italian.
My whole impetus for starting this blog was to share how our family finally cracked the book open and started implementing the ideas that Anna Botsford Comstock wrote about so skillfully in this book. The entire Handbook of Nature Study is to help parents/teachers to be better nature study guides.
The breath of fresh air, the moving about outside, the getting to know better our own backyard…these are the joys of the Outdoor Hour Challenge. The most successful families involved in the OHC are those that embrace the idea that getting outdoors as a family is important and worthy of our time. The OHC is the vehicle for getting us outside, hopefully giving us something interesting to learn about. If we skip the preparation work and don’t read the pages in the Handbook of Nature Study, we are missing out on the simple ideas that Anna Botsford Comstock shared in the pages of each lesson.
We can all use some refreshing ideas from time to time and I am encouraging every single participant of the Outdoor Hour Challenge to spend a few minutes over the next few weeks to read the pages from the challenges below…you will not be sorry. Read with a note pad or highlighter to create some of your own points to remember as you go outdoors with your children this winter. I have listed some of my favorite points below.
Handbook of Nature Study Reading Suggestions Challenge 1: Pages 1-8 Challenge 2: Pages 23-24 Challenge 3: 16-17 Challenge 4: 10-11 and 13-15
“In nature-study the work begins with any plant or creature which chances to interest the pupil.”
“In nature study any teacher can with honor say, ‘I do not know’, for perhaps the question asked is as yet unanswered by the great scientists.”
“No child should be compelled to have a nature journal”
“…but in nature-study, the observation of form is for the purpose of better understanding life.”
“It is a mistake to think that half day is necessary for a field lesson, since a very efficient field trip may be made during the ten or fifteen minutes at recess, if it is well planned.”
You don’t have to go farther than you own backyard because “nature study is science brought home”.
To help us implement some of the ideas we read about, I have included a December World Notebook Page as part of this entry. You can use it to record your outdoor time over the next few weeks.
Please note I am an affiliate for NotebookingPages.com and I receive a small commission for every purchase you make after clicking my links. I hope that you find their products as valuable as I do!
Andy Goldsworthy and his artwork have fascinated me ever since I first heard of him a few years ago. Many times when I am out and about on our hikes I wish I had the gumption to stop and create a little art myself with my kids. Here is a video to spark some interest and hopefully create a desire for you to create a little artwork of your own.
Here is alonger video but worth the visual treat….it has music so be prepared.
I really, really meant to post a mini-Challenge today for us all to complete this week but the day is over and here I am sitting at my computer wondering what happened to my good intentions.
So I will share a quote and some photos from my day instead, perhaps it will inspire you to get outdoors this week and have an adventure you can share with me.
“Nature Study is natural study, that is, studying by natural methods. It is intellectual, physical and moral development by and through purposeful action and reaction upon environment, guided, so far as need by, by the teacher…..Information comes from Nature Study, and that or enjoyment, usually both, may be what the child seeks; but from the teacher’s point of view the vitally important part of the lesson is the series of activities put forth by the child.”
The Nature Study Course, by John Dearness. 1905.
I have been thinking about this idea for a couple of weeks now and it is poking at my heart. I tend to guide too much and insert my thinking too much when we are observing and researching things we come across in our outdoor life. So maybe not having a mini-challenge is the challenge this week. Spend time outdoors with my boys, reacting to our outdoor setting, allowing them room to put in some effort…..another challenge for me.
Here are some photos from my day to round out this first Friday in December post.
Brown leaves falling on my new rock garden…it makes for a wonderful scene from my front window.
Plenty of leaves clinging to the big tree in the side yard.
Autumn red…should be a Crayola Crayon color.
The birches with their bright yellow leaves stand out brilliantly against the dreary autumn sky.
View from under the deck…with some green leaves on the vine. My husband’s metal butterfly sculpture makes a great silhouette don’t you think? I love the little curly-q’s on the vine that you can see now that much of the foliage has fallen off. Looks like doodles and I may just have to doodle them into my nature journal.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and spend some time outdoors with your children. I just checked our weather forecast and it says cloudy/showers for the whole weekend. Sigh.
Those of us who made it outdoors during November were treated to a variety of nature study experiences. For our family we enjoyed the push to learn more about salmon and to spend some time looking for interesting things in our autumn season. I am sending a big thank you to all the families that supported the carnival this month….shorter than usual but just as enjoyable. I look forward to seeing your December nature study as we work through some informal challenges over the next few weeks.
Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival
November World Edition
Autumn Series # 6 Queen Anne’s Lace Kelsey catches up with her Queen Anne’s Lace entry on her blog Mud Puddles.
Autumn Series #8 Weather Tricia shares their weather study on her blog. She writes, “Flip-flops or jackets? This is the November question.”
Autumn Series #7 Trout and Salmon Kelsey and her family had a really great idea for studying some fish up close. Check out their entry on Mud Puddles.
Tricia and her family completed a wonderful study of fish as part of the Trout and Salmon challenge. Check out their notebook pages!
Autumn Series #9 Pine Cones Tricia says there is no shortage of pine cones to study in her area. Don’t miss reading about their nature study for this challenge.
Autumn Series #10 November World Amy shares their November World on her blog The Teachable Heart. I think Amy has done a wonderful job adapting all the Autumn Series challenges to her preschoolers.
Tricia finishes off her Autumn Series challenges with a look at a familiar spot as part of her November World post.
Misc Outdoor Hour Challenges Entries Amy from Hope is the Word shares their Outdoor Hour Challenge #3 on her blog. You can see their November World!
Shirley Ann from South Africa contributed two entries to the carnival: Look Closely, Pay Attention and October Nature Club. Remember they are experiencing different seasons than we are in the Southern Hemisphere….a little snorkeling would be welcome around our neck of the woods.
Quinn shares their Mammal/Coyote entry on her blog On Just A Couple Acres. Don’t miss this interesting nature study that happened right in their own backyard.
Giveaway Winners Announcement!
Also, as part of the November World Challenge I announced a giveaway to all that entered a link in Mr. Linky. We did a random drawing and the two winners are:
For the Moelskine Journal: Amy from The Teachable Heart
For the $10 NotebookingPages.com gift certificate: Phyllis from All Things Beautiful
Another November world sort of post from my world to yours….it is cold, really cold but no snow as they predicted which makes me very thankful. I am not ready yet for the winter to hit as hard as they thought it was going to this past week.
It was 43 degrees when we left the car for our walk on the trail. It was late afternoon and the light was so pretty in the remaining colorful leaves.
The mornings are still very cold and the leaves all have pretty patterns of ice to observe if you look up close.
How about this one from our deck railing? Amazingly beautiful don’t you think?
Another one that caught my eye…..lovely, just lovely.
As November comes to a close, so will my November World posts but then again, it will a December World.
Can you believe it is almost December? I thought I could fit in another November World post or two before the end of the month. It is surprising what you will see if keep your eyes open!
It has been really cold the last week or so and when I opened my blinds early in the morning a few days ago, this is what I saw at my birdfeeder.
Mr. Hummingbird.
We still have hummingbirds in our yard although the temperatures have been in the low 30s and the world has been frozen. Another day I saw some hummingbirds in my remaining lavender blooms in the front yard. One morning the feeder was frozen so I had to bring it in and defrost it and refill it with more liquid. Two hummingbirds come regularly and sit and feed for long periods of time and then they fly off. I am not sure if they are the same birds over and over or whether they are different birds migrating. So many questions….
Later in the day, this Northern Flicker (red shafted) caught my son’s attention and he had to run in and get me to see it. Over the years Mr. A has become a great spotter of birds and I think it is because we have taken the time, one bird at a time, to get to know them and their habits.
The Chinese pistache tree in our front yard has little red-orange nuts on it this time of year. The local birds come here quite frequently and there seems to be quite a few migratory birds that stop by once or twice a year to enjoy the nuts. Here is a whole gang of different birds in the tree at one time.
One of my favorite colorful birds was visiting, the Cedar Waxwing.
Mr American Robin was there too making his presence known.
And don’t forget Mr. Western bluebird. I see these just about every day now and I love them. We are thinking of finding a place to put a bluebird house for them to nest in but we need to do some more research about size and location.
November World birds seem to cheer even the coldest day up!
Our study of pine cones started way back when I was writing the Autumn Series ebook. We gathered a few pine cones to use in the experiments suggested. We had fun soaking the cones in a bucket of water and then setting them in the sun to observe them as they dried and opened up again. Simple things sometimes make the deepest impressions and honestly, none of us had really put all the pieces together until doing the experiments. I know I took photos but they are lost somewhere on my hard drive. Could that be a sign of taking too many photos? I bet a lot of you can relate to my desire to document as much as I can about our world and that leads to lots of images to save and enjoy.
Our unofficial theme as we worked through this study became something like this:
Pine cones don’t just hold still, they are a living thing created for a specific purpose.
What else pushed this pine cone study up another notch?
We have had sort of an on-going study of the female and male cones of the pines in our area.
We studied pine cones back in February of 2008 as part of the Winter Wednesday studies: Cones and a Woodpecker. We also studied pines as part of the Winter Series back in February 2010. This time though we are really trying to concentrate on the cones.
We extended our study of female and male cones.
Male cones with the pollen.
This is the photo that sort of started it all so long ago. We wondered if these were “baby pine cones”. Well, it turns out they are not and only after completing a study of what gymnosperms are in our biology study did things start to fall into place. There are male and female cones on the tree. Females are usually at the top and males at the bottom. The males have the pollen that is wind driven up to meet up with the female cones. How about a simple video that even I can understand? Here you go!
Next we wondered why the female cones are sticky and then we guessed it had to do something with capturing the pollen…but that is whole other subject.
This guy wanted to be included in our pine cone study this week. He was so very happy that I put out some extra walnuts for him when I was filling the birdfeeders and he climbed up the tree to look in the living room window at us.
“Thanks a lot”, he said as he swished his big fluffy tail and then dropped to the ground and off to eat some more.
There were also some bird friends that made an appearance but I will save those for another post.
There is always something to learn about in our world and these challenges have helped us focus on things that we never dream of making into a complete study all on their own. I love it.
