The end is only the beginning...

I am sitting in my back yard for the last official blog post of the semester. It's almost eighty degrees, the sun is still shining while I listed to Frank Sinatra and my fiance is mowing the lawn. The trees have their little buds and the insects are out and about now - you can see the birds flying after them or picking them from the ground. Happiness is in the air, along with the scent of Summer and promises. I can't help but feel happy.

When I was first registering for classes for this semester, I really wanted to take Travel Writing. I would have signed up for it, but I forgot about registration day and the class was filled before I remembered and signed on. While I still think I would enjoy Travel Writing, I am thankful for my awful memory because I have really enjoyed Nature Writing this semester.

Not only has this class given me the opportunity to see that nature writing isn't just for those uber-ecologically aware types, but it has also allowed me to focus on my own connection to the big wide world. I've really enjoyed the readings that have offered multiple perspectives on our responsibility to the environment we live in, which has caused me to really become a part of my place. I would have been connected to the place that I've chosen to write about regardless. I mean, it is my back yard. But, I feel like I would have been connected to it by possessing it. Now I feel that it is such a gift that we were able to find a home amidst such beautiful nature. We were looking for a house that was situated on some land, but I could never have imagined how much I would come to love every blade of grass and every tree.

I was outside a few weeks ago when I heard a chainsaw fire up. I pinpointed the source of the noise - it was coming from the neighbors who live sort of caddy-corner to us, but their property runs behind their house and adjacent to ours. So, the back of our yard, where the woods begin, that is where the neighbor's property begins. I watched them for a while, seeing that they were cutting up already fallen trees. I thought to myself, they must be clearing up some of the dead wood so they can use it for firewood. That seems reasonable in my book. But, a few days ago, I saw them out there again. This time, they were cutting perfectly healthy trees down. Not only that, but they were also cutting these trees down on my property. While I didn't have the guts to go face two grown men with chainsaws by myself (my fiance wasn't home at the time), I was surprised at how much it bothered me. And the part that bothered me the most was not the fact that they were cutting down trees on our lot, but that they were cutting down trees in the first place. How dare they? Did they know how long those trees had been growing there? Hadn't there been enough destruction to the land they cleared to build their house? And the other houses around here? Can't they just leave the land to have some of its own? It makes me want to go plant more trees back there just to make them angry and make more work for them.

I think I am turning into an environmentalist.

I hope that I can continue to explore my place and the surrounding areas. I haven't made it over to our lot across the street that came with the house yet (it's where our sand mound is for our septic system), but it's a wooded acre and leads to eighty acres of woods behind it. I'd love to go exploring in the upcoming months and am looking forward to the surprises. As much as I've become more aware of the nature surrounding me, I am still surprised every day. It was just the other day I was looking for signs of Spring, watching the buds on the trees appear slowly. Then suddenly, the next day, before I was even looking for them, yellow flowers had exploded on the bushes and the trees had those amazing, fragrant white and blush blooms. And part of me hopes to never catch on to nature's schedule so I can always find joy in these sudden appearances.

I'm going to try to keep up with my blog in the coming months so I can continue to remind myself of my connection with the world.

I spent the entire day on Saturday outside. I am so grateful that I can do that now. It has been consistently warm the past few days and although I know it's forecasted to get down into the forties again this weekend, I'll take what I can get. So, on Saturday morning, I took my dog and my homework outside to bask in the beautiful weather. I didn't get a lot accomplished. I wanted to enjoy the sun rather than just sit in it. So, I played a few games of tag with the puppy (he's not very good at it, he always thinks he's it) and when we got tired, we laid down on a blanket in the middle of the grass.

I made it a point when I was laying there to close my eyes and reach out to the nature surrounding me. I could feel the warmth of the sun on my face, lighting my eyelids to a wonderfully warm red. The light breeze caressed my face and it felt like a light touch of silken fingertips. The birds were singing and fluttering about, I could hear them as they passed overhead between the trees. Although their songs were interrupted occasionally by a hammer (my fiance was fixing the gutters), they seemed cheerful and content with the nice weather. I could smell the grass and dirt beneath me, and the air had no trace of winter left in it. It was all Spring and Summer to come, tasting of warmth and freshness.

More weed-flowers, but still beautiful!

In yoga, they always tell you to ground yourself. Press down through the feet, the hands, the body to the earth. Become one with it. I focused on allowing my relaxed body to become one with the ground, letting it grow roots, become a firm part of the earth. It might seem like a silly concept, but laying there I felt that I became part of my surroundings, part of this great place and I could feel the throbbing of the pulse of the earth. Everything began to pulsate in time to each other, becoming intertwined and infinitely connected.

After twenty minutes, I turned my head to one side, and opened my eyes. Tiny little flowers had made an appearance that I had missed before. (And, of course, when I try to get a picture, the dog lays down right on top of them). While I know they are weeds to most, they are still so beautiful and I think about the roots of trees and flowers and grass and plants being interconnected throughout the entire planet.

Cody giving me the evil eye.
They are his flowers!

 Does everything spring from the same one root system? It seems like a wonderful idea to explain how each aspect of our environment is interconnected. We have to take care of all of it for the roots to thrive and grow. I can't wait to see what else pops up in my back yard this Spring, taking root and making it home.

Where do the bluebirds fly?

Photo from www.ejphoto.com

I have to tell you about this bird. Last week, on one of the warmer days, I was walking around my back yard with the puppy. All of the sudden, while I was standing near the fence and a few bushes, still bare of foliage, there was movement that I caught out of the corner of my eye. I turned and for a brief second saw a bright path of blue and orange. I was mesmerized and tried to follow it as it flittered away, landing farther from me on the fence post. This was one of the prettiest birds I have seen in my yard so far this Spring. I wanted to run and get my camera, but I stood for a while and watched it to be sure of what I was seeing. It perched itself on the trunk of one of the pine trees in the yard and whistled away while I gazed at its vibrant blue feathers and vivid red-orange belly. Eventually, a similar bird, though the colors were muted, joined this little singer and they proceeded to playfully fly around, playing some intricate form of tag. Eventually, I hurried inside, making my fiancé watch to make sure they didn’t get away as I searched for my camera. I tried to use the zoom to capture a picture of the two birds, but unfortunately my camera isn’t the greatest. So, in order to get a closer snapshot, I inched forward, mumbling under my breath that they really needed to hold still while I got a picture. They didn’t comply, and proceeded to flirt around with each other until they flew off into the neighbor’s trees. My fiancé was convinced that they were just blue jays, but I knew they were both too small and the color wasn’t right. I have since waited for them to come back, but they don’t seem to like my yard as much as the neighbor’s. I did catch a brief glimpse of them yesterday when I was walking the dog. They were doing the same song and dance as before, but high above my head amid the bare branches of the trees next door.

From some brief research on trusty Google, I found out that these were Eastern Bluebirds. Thanks to AllAboutBirds.org, I saw some pretty great pictures and learned about their habitats. From what the site says, they frequently use nest boxes or old woodpecker holes (there are a lot of woodpeckers around here, too), so my new project once the semester is over is to get some wood and build a bird box. I’m hoping that they can come to love my back yard as much as I do, and we can get along together well in the future. I think I might need to work on my patience, though, or get a better camera if I’m going to get a picture. I'm just happy that I am finally getting a chance to see the wildlife that I am now sharing this space with. I hope that I'll be able to see much more in the coming (warmer) months and we can learn to grow comfortable with each other's presence here.