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Art homework - still only created by tape   Inspired by the Nature Journal book  The heron let me down the rabbit hole to an older picture that reminded me of a former passion of mine, my shared office space, pretty much unrelated, except for the passion piece. 
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Very fun, but also very wet. We started with plaster casts and skulls and moved on to some teethmarks and a super cool foot that fell from the sky (tree). We also looked at turned over grass and scat and scratches on trees. Ravens visited and a baldie. We saw a lot.
This mouse lives in a magical place,
Where the morning sun slowly sweeps away ice from frozen maple leaves, Where Housefinches skip from branch to branch, Hummingbirds call each other for companionship, Trumpeter swans cheer each other on with honks. Where the Great Blue Heron flies low, the Bald Eagle watches over the Snohomish River, And the Flicker spreads their colorful wings. Where mallards swim together in circles, And a Cinnamon teal might be seen. Where endless bird poop can be found. Where Caddisfly larvae uses silk to make a protective case out of gravel, sand and tiny pieces of plants, so strong they are hard to pull apart. Where Cedars make great hides But less mindful visitors leave their tools and lunches Decorating logs with sprayed art. Where Beavers snack on young Cottonwood branches Leaving behind their tracks to observe Where Coyotes go swimming in the icy cold river Taking a long time to build a fire afterwards Where Bob saved the place from development His death marking the end of the Golden Age of Steelheading. This mouse lives in a magical place. Walked Camp Long and saw 2 Garter snakes under Critter Board.
Visited my sit spot and had an almost magical moment when after 20 min of Seahawks cheering neighbors and the bummer, I heard about 5 different birds alarming all of a sudden. About 2 minutes in the big black neighbor cat hunted by. He didn't notice me at first. Then he looked a bit irritated at me and took off through the curved cedar. All the birds still alarmed for about 2 more minutes steadily before the quieted down and only a sparrow kept alarming. After doing a Bird sit last week it was super cool to experience this. Monday: Wander at Schmitz Slugs, mud, log Looked at crusty lichen on big trees Got to Linne Doran late Chatted Emailed til 2 Tuesday: Heard alarm at 6 Not a happy camper Learned about Linne Doran History Went on a bird wander Saw a grey jay maybe Learnt more about bird language Presented spotted towhee pipilo Cool stories about poly robins Senses Tired Walked to Mosswood w Genevieve Chatted with Rowan + Maggie Went to Tolt with Allegra Camas is Self-Heal Deer Ear Bird long white brown Weird poop Pizza Sat a little after a nice wander exploring Me Kwa Mooks. It was pretty quiet. Just some sanding sounds from neighbors. Sanding wood? And some music. And some screechy sound from the cherry log. Juvenile crow? And some clicking. Most likely from the little hummer.
I talked with Hazel, my old friend. Left my scent next to the log. Put some branches on the new trail and downhill. Whoever has the guts to master the course can explore. I smelled Hazel, the maple, the soil, the ivy. Most familiar and surprisingly not strong. Ivy leaves don't smell in September. Right after, it rained and rained and I stayed happily inside. Feathers:
https://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/diagram-in-english_rsz1024d.jpg My Stellar's Jay feather might be a wing feather. I visited my sit spot. I would think I come here since May. It definitely feels longer, but I think I switched around from my front porch to the opening to different spots in my little forest. After Kai, my mentee left, I started taking Tim to do sit spot - and started climbing up the little hill - and then left. It's close to the Junction in 4-5 directions. Today I stepped into the forest with the intention of taking out some of the trash left behind as it distracts me from focusing. It was a lot and I could not understand where all the new trash came from. Did the wind expose it as there is a whole layer still there from a former camp. I was very happy to clean up the bits and pieces. One was a plastic Easter egg (apparently left behind from our last egg hunt - and then rolled in the open - who does that?) where someone clearly enjoyed the chocolate inside. The wrapper was torn in lots of little pieces. Squirrel? I went and took note of the scat on the little hillside next to the beautifully rotting log, which could be cat or raccoon or anything that size. Will need to investigate. Looked up all the scat in this size and didn't find anything that fit it. It was too small for house cat or raccoon and the form too long for anything else in that shape. Close by are lots of empty hazel nuts and feeding debris. Probably from the Squirrels or rats? Will need to investigate. On my way back I found 3 feathers about 3 feet apart. Two bright blue and one fluffy. I was looking around for more, expecting a kill site, but couldn't find any more.  Later, I looked up 'Fairmount Park' and my sit spot on Google Earth and the parcel finder and another page and did the same for my sit spot at Linne Doran.
We had our Orientation Day yesterday. Strix Occidentalis. 2 Clans.
The smoke moved in quickly and it was nice to have the face masks. I particularly enjoyed the walk and learning that my sit spot for years is between the 'Cable Tree' and the Ancestor Hill. I also got to visit my sit spot and decided to put some intentions in my Anake year and remembered how Kyle introduced me to the site and demonstrated his skills on the log in the Enchanted Forest. So, I took this and thought what would Kyle do and started rolling down from my sitting position and lay above the big old stump where the 3 little birds visited me a while ago, where I got inspired to learn about the Hemlock, Cedar and Huckleberry, I didn't know yet. I loved to lay there in the still and look up in the tree tops. Another perspective. A bit of playfulness and cheer build-in. My name is Christine (she/her) or Biene. I'm very excited to join
Anake this year as my longing for more connections with the natural world and other people has steadily increased during the pandemic. Growing up I roamed the woods in the Bavarian alps, climbing my favorite spruces, observing the little creek, falling in and breaking my collarbone (ask me about the fish), playing house under the hazel, snacking on dock and purple dead-nettle with my best friend, chasing dandelion seeds, picking grapes, apples and berries, in awe with Nature. In 4th grade I finished my school's scavenger hunt first. It was held in my woods, a home game for me. After college I worked in Marketing and Internet StartUps, produced an Astrology show and sold wine and delicacy online. I moved to West Seattle in 2004, where I raised my Climate Action Family, built the West Seattle Bee Garden, started the West Seattle Coworking space, and work as a bookkeeper for the Community School of West Seattle, currently closed during Covid, which allows me to join the Anake program. In 2016 I got my mind blown attending Art of Mentoring at WAS, rolling in mud, chasing the Golden Elixir (GE) with a bunch of fun Canadians that I made say 'about' a lot. It was the highlight of my summer, being playful, rekindling with my childhood passions and the following year I wanted to do Anake, but there was just too much going on in my life, so I joined the Tracking Intensive and the Wild Plant Intensive the following year, became a Native Plant Steward and Master Forest Steward. I volunteer for the Green Seattle Partnership, the Bee Garden, South Sound Nature School and Seattle Tracking Club. I love learning, becoming more humble with each day and hanging out with other Nature nerds. I am fascinated by all things Nature and a few of my favorites are chickadees, mason bees, huckleberries, nettles, deer mice, madrones, hoverflies, crows, maidenhair fern, lupines, ghost pipes, spittlebugs, racoons (we Germans call them 'wash bears'), sphagnum moss, oaks, horsetail, yarrow and thimbleberries. My all time favorite pastime is going on wanders and foraging with friends. |
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