Friends were complaining after a major ice storm in the Chattanooga Metro area (Catoosa County, NW Georgia). With lows around 6 degrees above zero, it WAS cold! As the sun came up, it showed something magical: Diamonds in the Trees. I walked through the woods and out into the wildflower field at Spirit Tree Farms, where goldenrods, pokeweed, late bonneset, blackberries, grasses, and other native plants joined with honey locusts, hickory and oak trees, and more, to show off a collection of sparkling jewels unmatched at any jewelry store. I riffed these iambic lines in a video, trying to stiffle my crying. Thanks to HomeGrownNationalPark.org for the inspiration, and to Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus for the Creation.
Category Archives: Nature Observation Writing
Power Vortex And Falls: Nature Observation Haiku
Negative ions
rise from falls between two rock
vortexes. Power
Rainwater Tea Base: Haiku
Will she get angry
once she learns fresh rainwater
is native tea base?
Rain Puddle Cold Water Gathering: Haiku
When the rain puddles,
then cold comes, gather water
with freezing fingers.
Orange Hat Bobbing Field Walk: Haiku
I watch her orange/
hat bobbing o’er wildflowers:
mid-winter field walk.
Who Waits Surprise: Haiku
How much she has changed!
Now, ’tis I who waits for her/
to come from the field.
Get Going Land Management: Haiku
When you’re awakened
with visions of managing
the land, get going!
Micro-Garbage or Micro-Trash Urban Dictionary
Thanks to my daughter’s use of “micro-garbage”, I made a submission to Urban Dictionary. Even if they don’t approve it, here’s the definition!
Micro-garbage, micro-trash in urban dictionary
Micro-garbage, aka micro-trash: Small pieces of plastic and other non-biodegradable litter and garbage that annoyingly show up even in forests, beaches, parks, and gardens. Examples include cig butts; bottle tops; plastic tape from cardboard boxes; gum wrappers; broken glass; fast food anything (wrappers, cups, lids, straws, styrofoam containers, condiment packages). Take a deep look at any nature setting and see how many small pieces of garbage litter the ground and plants. (Then, pick it up!)
Examples of micro-garbage in a sentence:
The wildflower patch was so full of micro-garbage that we couldn’t enjoy the beauty until we’d picked up the junk.
My walk on the park trail was disturbed by the micro-trash littering the bushes.
By the end of our walk in the woods, our pockets and backpacks were stuff with micro-garbage.
She laughed at my nature-loving attitude, saying: “Your yard is full of micro-garbage!”
Butterfly Love: Improv Haiku
I join with others/
on the map. Butterfly love/
combines Nature’s joy.
Individual Responsibility Environmentalism: Free Verse
I’m called tree hugger,
greener,
environmentalist,
eco-warrior.
I call myself
those names, too.
But when I see
red-faced screamers
demanding that
governments and nations
make accords,
do something,
force compliance,
I back away.
Giving government
more power
is not where I’ll waste
my waste-fighting
eco-warrior
energies.
Haven’t we learned
from Muir,
Thoreau,
Leopold,
and others?
They DID,
and they wrote
about what they DID.
Movements started
with the power of
DOING,
with the power
of words.
They introduced others
to the beauty
and wonder
and peace,
and joy
found in God’s Creations,
in Mother Nature.
They partnered
with God,
with Nature,
to help folks,
the common man and woman,
feel love for
and wonder at
all God’s creations.
Because how will I
partner with,
love,
and protect
a creation
I’ve never experienced?
This was prompted by an essay on individual responsibility in environmentalism.