Connecting to nature through poetry and prose
The red-winged blackbird is one of Vermont’s early migrators. Today, we are investigating the red-winged blackbird, its migration patterns, and reading parts of “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” by Wallace Stevens.
“Your sort of gorgeousness,/Dark and lustrous/And unfathomable/And poopy-glossy/ Is the gorgeousness that evokes my darkest admiration”- D.H. Lawrence. Today we honor the wild turkey with a poem and then an investigation into Benjamin Franklin’s thoughts about this native bird.
In a short article written for Northern Woodlands, Rebecca Perkins Hanissian ponders her relationship to migratory birds. Besides being a humorous read about human behavior, this article identified 5 avian adaptations worth sharing.
What can we learn about ourselves and our community when we listen to the birds? David G Haskell invites us to find out with 5 invitations.
“Write single-lines poems about birds”, the tweet said. How do you do that? It turns out in order to understand this form, we need to look at the foundations of haiku.
In the winter woods the sound of a woodpecker resonates through the trees. This drumming or tapping behavior of the woodpeckers makes these birds both noticeable and unique. As a result there are many poems written about them. Today we have poems by Dickinson, Alling, Basho, Issa, and Silverstein.
The owl, with its nocturnal lifestyle and distinct appearance has made it the perfect subject for poetry. Today we have poems from Issa, Alan Watts, Emily Dickinson, and many more.
The Canadian Geese migration is one of those amazing feats of the natural world. When you think about this, and then watch them fly in their V formation, it makes sense that poets like Mary Oliver and Wendell Berry would incorporate them into their verse.
Can technology support our connection to nature? Technobiophilia suggests that humans have an "innate attraction to life and lifelike processes as they appear in technology” and, if used thoughtfully, it can support our well-being.
Have you ever wondered what role birds have played in American literature? Well it turns out, quite a lot. That is why the Library of America, a nonprofit organization focused on preserving and promoting, publishing, and providing readers with opportunities to engage in American writing, is hosting an online conversation with Olivia Gentile, poet Sidney... Continue Reading →
As we launch into this next week, I wanted to recap some of the news stories and events I came across last week. This is just a small sampling of all the work that is going on out there to help the earth and support our connection to nature. Each one of these stories is... Continue Reading →
Hummingbird at our feeder - June 09, 2021 My research this week have been focused on pollinators species and pollinator gardens. Hummingbirds, as it turns out, are also a vital part of the pollinator population. There are approximately 328 different species(1) of these amazing little birds, which are a part of the larger order of... Continue Reading →
Naturalist Weekly 