How to Take a Nature Break:
- Grab your sketchbook and pencil (in case it's cold enough to freeze ink)
- Find some winter weeds
- Draw one or two of them
- Jot notes about them, or write haiku, maybe lines for a song
- (if it's too cold outside, bring a few inside to draw)
Why don't we just take a camera, you ask?
Great question! Here's what I've discovered: when I draw something in nature, I slow down. Look more closely at the details. Jot notes about what I am observing. Things like: how tall it is, what it reminds me of. (The fruiting structures on the sensitive fern on the left remind me of tiny chocolate drops lined up on toothpicks.)
Winter weeds could be grasses, goldenrods, things with berries, plants with pods. You might not know what they are, but that's OK because there are places to find out. One of my favorite references is Lauren Brown's Weeds in Winter (updated and revised as Wildflowers and Winter Weeds)
Thanks for the book recommendation. This is a great exercise for us all.
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