In my Nature Notebook...

12/9/2011

Time to review the different species of evergreens. I can't believe I am the age I am and don't always even know my own Christmas Tree by its needles and smell. I need a yearly refresher. This is Tom Thomson's famous painting of a Jack Pine-- a symbol in my homeland. I know that one.

"Jack pines...are not lumber trees (and they) won't win many beauty contests either. But to me this valiant old tree, solitary on its own rocky point, is a beautiful as a living thing can be...In the calligraphy of its shape against the sky is written strength of character and perseverance, survival of wind, drought, cold, heat, disease...In its silence it speaks of...wholeness...an integrity that comes of being what you are." Douglas Wood

2 Comments

Tammy Glaser link

1/9/2012 12:29:35 pm

Do you draw in your nature notebook too? I mainly draw and take notes about what we are studying. I remember when I first started, nothing I did satisfied me. A steady course of nature notebooks has enabled me to come a long way and sometimes I am content. :-)

Laurie

1/10/2012 12:21:03 am

Tammy, YES! I draw. It hadn't occurred to me to say so here. I usually look for artwork portraying the thing I have drawn because I assume the world doesn't want to see my feeble drawings. (Same with my Book of Centuries) Like you, i have been keeping a nature notebook for many years, although I have more time for it now that my children are grown. I am sometimes content with my drawings but above all, I think keeping Mason's notebooks does the paradigm shifting more than anything else. I keep them for the learning to see, rather than the content. Let's share drawings next time we're together. Or, send one now and I will put it on the sharing our stories page.

"Ideas
won't keep; something must be done about them."
- Alfred Whitehead

A Charlotte Mason education leads to all kinds of ideas! Join me in keeping one or several of the notebooks she prescribed and discover the Science of Relations and the Art of Mindfulness.

Laurie

"Perhaps this is one of the secrets of life--to know 'glory' when we see it."
--Charlotte Mason

Virtual Life?

A wee explanation: this website was created as a way to amplify the daily surprise of seeing glory in one small life. The notebook entries represented here are all selected from things actually lived and noted on paper in an effort to live the full life British educator Charlotte Mason so ably championed.

In Appreciation
Photos chosen are linked to their original posts in most cases because I have found something of value there and hope my readers will likewise find a helpful resource. In the case of miss-attribution or if you desire your work not be linked, please let me know.

In My Notebook...