Connecting to nature through poetry and prose
“I didn’t know it, but I was having a 'haiku moment’- a moment when the mind stops and the heart moves”. This quote is from Margaret McGee, the author of Haiku: The Sacred Art (A Spiritual Practice in Three Lines), and it marks the beginning of her journey toward a haiku life.
Charles Foster declares “I’m losing confidence in words” in the opening lines of his July, 2021 essay “Against Nature Writing”. In this article, I will explore Foster's argument and then propose that haiku could be the solution.
We have entered the micro season of “The Salmon Gather to Spawn”. This is the last season of the mini season Major Snow. This micro-season focuses on the anadromous behavior of salmon and the myth of Osuke, the king of salmon.
The Heart of Haiku is a short book written by Jane Hirshfield in which she investigates the evolution of Matsuo Basho’s writing and poetry. Using Basho’s own words and haiku, Hirschfield demonstrates Basho's impact on the poetic world.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North is Basho’s third book documenting his travels in Japan, and it is considered one of the major Japanese texts from the Edo period. This book, written in haibun, demonstrates Basho’s mastery of this form. Yuasa states that the “prose and haiku illuminate each other like two mirrors held up facing each other.”
Basho's poem about the moon glow and the drifting clouds makes me think about the Buddhist teaching of the Two Truths. However, I wanted to know what other people thought. So I asked and what I learned was pretty fascinating.
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.
The One-Spotted Variant Moth (Hypagyrtis unipunctata) is a fairly common type of moth in the eastern United States. Butterflies and moths are very similar in many ways and sometimes be difficult to know what you are looking at. There are, however, a few things to look for when you are trying to identify one of these insects. Below is a list of some of the frequently identified differences between butterflies and moths.
Resources: Forest Bathing by Dr. Qing LiWalk in the woods for wellness: Health benefits of forestsForest Therapy Association of the AmericasPhytoncides: The Science Behind Forest Bathing BenefitsJapanese “forest medicine” is the science of using nature to heal yourself—wherever you are
Naturalist Weekly 