The Winter Journal | Throwback Thursday

Wintertime.
There are times when nature wants to be alone, and this is one of them. ~ Marcia Bowden Nature for the Very Young

Still, wintertime is a good time to begin learning about nature because there is less activity than in other seasons. This is a good time to hone observational skills in children as they learn to look past the barrenness of a cold, wintry white scene and focus in on the shapes of trees, the patterns of animal tracks in the snow, the dried remains of last summer's plants, and winter color


 On Winter Observations
No matter where you live, whether there is a dramatic change in temperature or more subtle changes from other seasons, winter is the time of basic regeneration in nature. - Claire Walker Leslie Keeping a Nature Journal



On Keeping a Seasonal Journal
'The changing seasons' is perhaps the most obvious themes conducive to keeping an ongoing nature journal. The advantage of keeping a nature journal through a full year is that you can bear witness to how much, in fact, the outdoors changes and unfolds, month by month through a full cycle -- and then begins again, with the same pattern but different details. - Claire Leslie Walker Keeping a Nature Journal


With winter upon us, the surface of the pond and rivers are frozen over, but if we look carefully we can see water warning us to stay away as it runs underneath the ice and snow. 

Perhaps nature does want to be alone this time of year?

Originally Published in 2009 | I hope this inspires you to venture out into the cold! If not, find a window and look out! 

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