Connecting to nature through poetry and prose
We have entered the micro-season of “The Pheasant First Calls”. This is the third micro-season of the mini-season Minor Cold. To celebrate this season, we will learn about pheasants and read haiku by Basho, Issa, and Buson.
We have entered the micro-season of “The Swallows Leave”. This is the third micro-season of the mini-season of White Dew. As a way to celebrate this season, we will investigate the swallow and its migration patterns. Then we will read haiku by Buson and Issa. This season, we also invite you to write your own migration-inspired haiku and share it with the community.
We have entered the micro-season of “The Young Hawk Learns to Fly ”. This is the third micro-season of the mini-season of Minor Heat. As a way to celebrate this season, we will explore what types of birds are considered hawks, the life cycle of birds, and then read haiku by Basho, Issa, and Shiki.
We have entered the micro-season of “Geese Fly North”. To honor this season we look at bird migration patterns and read haiku by Basho, Issa, Shiki, and Buson.
The micro-season of “The Sparrow Builds Her Nest” is the first micro-season of the mini season of Spring Equinox. To honor this season, we investigate the taxonomy of the sparrow and read a short poem by Emily Dickinson.
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.
“With a rare leaf for a roof in the rain,/With a rare cap for his cardinal hood,/The cardinal bird remains”-Orrick Johns. The Northern Cardinal is a striking bird that has captured the imagination of poets for generations. To honor this bird, we are reading cardinal related poetry for Orrick Johns, Nancy McCleery, and Alfred Noyes.
“The mourning dove/ wearing noon’s aureole/ coos from the rhododendron”(excerpt from “What the Dove Sings” by Carol Frost) Today we honor the mourning dove with poems by Emily Dickinson, Joe Tessitor, Carol Frost, and Galway Kinnel.
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.
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.
Naturalist Weekly 