Another sample of Spring 2013 advancing.
One of our early ferns (May 6) did a little lifting on its way up. Balsamea never stops entertaining us.
The leaf was gone the next day, so my camera-play had been lucky, leaving me with a souvenir of mindful woods-walking.
That’s what most of my photos from Balsamea are about: just taking time to notice what is really there. It is a fun hobby to collect souvenirs to remember things, and to remind me to keep being mindful of them. It is good medicine to mind and body.
However, sometimes I make a point of leaving the camera home, to “bathe” in the essence of the forest just for the sake of doing it, taking a lesson from my canine partner, being there just to be there, belonging there.
But Buddy has learned to pause the walk on his own when he sees the camera come out of its case.
Related Articles:
- The Healing Power of a Walk in the Woods (eartheasy.com) – some studies are developing ways to quantify the health benefits of forest walking, and to identify the reasons, such as plant emissions.
- Noticing: How to Take a Walk in the Woods – by Adam Frank, NPR (www.npr.org/blogs/13.7) – Some good ideas on getting more from a walk in the woods; ideas that I use all the time.
- Walking Through the Forest (bildebok.wordpress.com)
- Bathing With Mushrooms (gailkirkpatrick.wordpress.com) – a piece that introduces forest bathing (Japanese shinrin-ryoho or shinrin-yoku). Inspired in part by this article:
- In Japan, healthy minds rejuvenate in healthy forests – by C. James Dale, in The Globe and Mail
- Fernalicious Forest Fun (bildebok.wordpress.com)
- Creature of the Day: Ferns (joyfulrestoration.com)
The Balsamean 