Nature
Cultivating Joy
Growing up helping Mom and Dad in our garden, I always thought there was something magical and empowering about working the ground, planting a seed and putting food on our table. Likewise, it is deeply spiritual to me to stare up a towering silver maple that I remember Dad putting in the ground as a sapling; the same tree I used to cut the suckers and water sprouts from so one main trunk would grow tall, straight and true.
By The Bantering Welshman5 years ago in Earth
The Bug Haters Club
I love the outdoors. It’s one of the sweetest parts of living in Canada. I *also* hate bugs. Even as a small child, I knew I had to find a way to make these two coexist. And as I got older, I found others like me ~ AKA bug detesting, nature enthusiasts.
By Miss Charlotte5 years ago in Earth
Let's Clear the Negative Air
Have you ever felt like the air around you or you yourself are holding a negative energy that you can't seem to shake away? Sage is an herb used during a Native American ritual called smudging, to purify the air of negative energy and allow one to get rid of the negative energy held within one's self. A window is opened to allow the negative energy to leave. The sage is then lit with a wooden match and left to burn. As it burns, one washes the smoke over the body, using one's hands, so as to walk in a positive light. Once the sage has burned to ash, the ashes of the sage are then put outdoors to get rid of the negative energy (CBC News, 2019; Harmon, 2016).
By Herbs to a T 5 years ago in Earth
The Hobby of Life
How to explain plant magic and its effect on me? How to explain the beauty I see in all of the greenery? The expanse of the wild fern, the litter of tree limbs after a great storm. I often look to the Earth for my inspiration for what is inside. I often find that the plants speak more truth than I see from people in church pews. Their whispers of patience, of growth, of human connection to the planet. I look to them for the answers I cannot reach in myself. I ask how the rose is so beautifully formed in order to become a symbol of love. I work in the dirt, I work in the sun. I live for the plants, I live for the earthworms doing their due diligence. They provide for us, despite being fodder for the fish in the water. In this I embrace what the Earth gives, is also what it takes away. I am shown that in order for a bloom to thrive, sometimes it must be cut back to the root. Sometimes it must start all over again in order to provide the beauty we barely notice on our way to work.
By Faith De Young5 years ago in Earth
Nature Diary
Northern Oriole Northern Orioles (also known as Baltimore Orioles) had been sighted in parks around the city for a week or so and I had seen several. They are easily recognized orange-coloured black birds that whistle pure notes from the treetops. I had been trying for days to get a clear photo of one but, shooting at a distance from the ground up to their high perches, all of the photos taken had turned out blurry.
By Andrew Turnbull5 years ago in Earth
5 Reasons You Should Spend More Time in the Forest
On a sunny Saturday, where else do you go but the forest? That’s the consensus around here. If you’re going to live in British Columbia, you’re obliged to like the outdoors. There’s not much else here. Vancouver has its charms, but they only go so far. It’s what’s outside the city that makes it so appealing.
By Ryan Frawley5 years ago in Earth
