Surprise meditation this week – and no quote to pull you in except that the title is TRUE.

I’m struggling with allergies, and so are most of my family and friends. Why is it that this time of year, when everything is so beautiful, fresh and green, is the time of year that we all have
stopped up heads and runny noses?

The answer, as you know, is that all of the trees and grasses are putting …

Around him the sea of grass rose and fell, rose and fell, shimmering with sunlight like ocean waves catching the sun. The brightness of it – the
GREENESS of it hurt his eyes. But there was no place to go for refuge. All he could do was lie down in the grass and let the tall stems and leaves tower over him providing a shifting sun
shelter.

He lay on his side, as …

There is so much to learn about the natural world! It seems that the more I discover about nature, the less I realize I
know. A great source of facts is The Natural Year: A Quiz Deck on Ecological Phenomena by Chris Hardman, published by Pomegranate Communications, Inc., Petaluma, CA.

Check out the following questions to increase your knowledge of the natural world!

True or False?

1. Raindrops …

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering the job,
excitement and mystery of the world we live in.” – Rachel Carson, The Edge of the Sea

I watch that sense of wonder in my little granddaughter’s eyes. Everything is new, everything is exciting, and she (at 18 months) can’t wait to experience it. Whether Daddy is gardening,
Mommy is planting flowers, …

“The day is grand,” or so we were told so many times during the first week or so of our Irish adventure a few weeks ago. We were lucky, we
had flown across the Atlantic and brought the fine weather with us. Instead of an average temperature range of 45 to 55 (F) we were experiencing 45 to 65, with a bright sun, blue skies and no
clouds in sight.
 
It was a phenomena …

The natural world is full of cycles. The cycle of the seasons, the cycle of the moon, the cycle of the Earth traveling in its orbit around the sun.
And then there is the cycle of birth and new life. For many species in the wild, that natural cycle includes mating in the late summer, and birthing in mid-Spring. We are now in the time of
birthing. If you live in or near a rural community, you …

What’s EE?

A new friend asked me this question a week ago. Paraphrased, here’s what I said.
Environmental education is learning and developing understanding about the world around us – the environment. This can include biology, geography, botany and other natural sciences. It includes
ecology – a study of the relationships between parts of nature. It may include wildlife management – a study of the ways humans can work with nature to use wildlife in a sustainable way, so that
…

The morning is cool. We load the kayaks into the back of our pickup truck, and tie them down to prepare for the short journey from our home in
southwest Tulsa to Keystone Lake, west of Tulsa. The lake is manmade, formed in the 50s when a flood control dam was constructed to hold the sometimes wild waters of two of the
state’s largest rivers, the Cimarron and Arkansas Rivers in northwestern Oklahoma.

…

Spring has come. It is certain both in the skies and on the ground where all living things are starting a new year of life. For this week’s
Connection, we return to Chris Hardman’s Ecological Calendar for more nature facts.

Earthshine – Sunlight reflects off the Earth and lights up the moon; the effect is most intense just before and after the new moons of April and May. (New moon dates: April 21 and
May 20) …

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” – that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” – John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever; its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health, and
quiet breathing.” – John Keate, “Endymion”

“Those things are better which are perfected by nature than those …