
This week marks a year of living vicariouly… through Nature. What she’s experienced, I’ve experienced. Her springtime has meant hope and wonder, delight and new discoveries for me. Her fall has brought colour to my life in ways I barely noticed or thought possible before.

This is what happens when you keep a nature journal. Although you might experience the same natural events year after year, you see everything in a clearer light when you take the time to reflect on what you’ve seen. Once you learn the name of a common weed, it becomes more difficult to ignore it the next time you see it in bloom on the lawn. You think twice about mowing it down.

Over the past year I’ve spent a lot of time outdoors and taken more photographs than at at any other time in my life. Field guides have become regular reading material and I’ve drawn numerous images of wildlife in an effort to illustrate what I couldn’t capture in a photograph.

My favorite posts are those that surrounded the theme of shapes in nature and the natural elements during our Midsummer Scavenger Hunt. Thank you again to everyone who participated. The whole was definitely greater than the sum of the parts.
The Midsummer Scavenger Hunt Series

Despite all the page views I received last week while on WordPress’ front page (just under a thousand in one day!) it’s the feedback from regular visitors from around the world through comments and email that make the process all the more worthwhile. My goal has not just been to share what beauty is here in my neck of the woods, but to encourage readers to take a closer look at the wonders waiting to be discovered in your own backyard. Living vicariously through Nature is a way of life that’s all the more enjoyable when it’s shared.



Strong, solid, brilliant, inflexible and reflective are all words used to describe metal as an element. Its mood is melancholic and serious. Metal is also a conductor and can represent bright ideas and communication. In nature, metal is associated with white, grey, silver and gold.
Even when it’s raining and the days are cloudy, the sun is still blazing in the sky. Its presence is vital to our survival and that of every other living thing on the planet. It’s no surprise that so many cultures throughout the ages have worshipped this ball of flames. Though we shouldn’t look into the sun (see 













A scavenger hunt is a game where the goal is to complete tasks or find items on a list. The Mid-Summer Scavenger Hunt outlined 



