Walking mindfully in spring

I am imperfect. While I want to walk every day I often let life get in the way. I generally find that the best time for me to walk is as soon as I get out of bed. At this time of the morning the city streets are still quiet (only a few cars and cyclists) so I can walk more mindfully and notice the natural world around me.

We are now half way through spring and the trees are covered with leaves and there are new flowers blooming. Today the grey sky promises a potential spring shower and under this muted light the colours dance brightly before my eyes. 

In some spots along my walk I can smell the freshly cut grass. In other places the grass is thicker and longer (awaiting the gardener's mower) and amongst the leaves of grass I spy a special find that makes a smile form on my face...a feather. 

Mindfulness: Being in the Moment

There are times in life when you suddenly realise, that while you thought you were partaking in a experience, you actually weren't. 

On my recent Dream Nourish to Kiama I experienced one of these moments. We had decided to revisit the blowhole, anticipating higher spouts of water due to a weather warning about the ocean swell. When we arrived at the point we saw the water shooting high into the air. Marvellous! Exactly what we hoped to experience. Then, out came the camera/phone to capture what we were seeing.

But though this action, our experience changed. We lost being in the moment. We became caught up in capturing the moment for future use. The dialogue in our head changed because we began to view life though the lens. 

The experience of the blow hole began to look like...

Inspirational Quotes: Moments of Mindfulness - Touch a tree.

 

Noticing the little things in life

As an writer and illustrator I  tend to work a lot of my day sitting at my kitchen bench or desk. My massage therapist reminds me that I need to regularly move and stretch, otherwise my muscles tighten and I suffer from back, hip and neck pain.

I try to remind myself that I need to take care of myself before I can create.

How do I do this?
I set my timer or my creative partner (my dog, Jay) reminds me to check my posture and stretch my muscles.
Jay sees his job (besides sleeping at my feet) as the one who guarantees that I stop every 3 to 4 hours for a short walk, a doggy toilet break as we live in a high-rise apartment.

These mini walks are fabulous for several reasons.

Diverse Landscapes That Feed Us: Call of the Reed Warbler

What's your interest the rural landscape and farming?

Everyone has a connection to farming via the food that we eat. It is important to be informed about what happens in our landscape and how our food is grown.     

The Reed Warbler called and the National Library of Australia (NLA) theatre filled with people who are interested in their role within the landscape. We gathered to listen to Charles Massy talk about his new book, Call of the Reed Warbler.

We have experienced dust storms in summer. We have heard about the need to plant trees and preserve our wildlife and wilderness. We have heard about how traditional methods of farming have contributed to the degradation of our landscape. We hear about genetically modified food but could our farming practices be impacting our health?

Degradation of Landscapes.
In the early 1980s my family bought land in the Cooma region as a weekend get away. We inherited a degraded landscape. Our hobby farm was a landscape of steep hills, mostly treeless plus some flatter 'farming' land. Walking across the landscape there were noxious weeds growing, introduced pasture grasses, erosion gullies deeper than four metres in some places and a few rabbit warrens.

Listen to Trees: David Haskell author of The Songs of Trees

George Berkeley is quoted to say “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

I'm sure that they do. Trees are are surrounded by a network of symbiotic lifeforms that would hear and feel if a tree fell in a forest. If we stop and listen to trees, by being open to the moment, we will find that they are "... nature's great connectors, we learn how to inhabit the relationships that give life its source, substance and beauty," says writer and scientist, David George Haskell, a professor of Biology and Environmental Studies.

David George Haskell in conversation with Genevieve Jacobs, at the National Library of Australia (NLA), shared his thoughts about trees and his new book The Songs of Trees, with an audience of more than 50 people.

As a member of the audience I could relate to what David had to say. Trees have sung songs to me for a long time now. 

• In my childhood there was the favourite wattle tree we would climb in our back garden.
• I loved eating fruit off my Blood Plum tree.
• My siblings and friends would play in groves of Snow Gums at the family farm near Bredbo.
• My grandmother used to take me to a playground near Yarralumla Primary School, where I would visit an old Cork tree.
• On Thursdays my Mum used to visit the banks on Jardine Street in Kingston, where the Oak trees lined the street. While Mum was in the bank we would collect and play with the leaves and acorns from these magnificent large trees.
• When husband and I owned a farm (43 acres) on the outskirts of Canberra we planted 4000 plus native trees, 100 poplar trees and 50 plus other deciduous trees. These trees were planted for varies reasons; wildlife corridors, assist in bring back the birds, windbreaks, to add biodiversity, to improve the heath of remnant trees, create memories, for beauty and aesthetics. 
• As a property owner and landcarer the preservation of our remnant forest was very important it contained Snow Gums, Yellow Box, Broad-leafed Peppermints and Apple Boxes both living and dead. (Oh how I cried when the new property owners cut down all the dead trees and removed all of the dead wood off the ground.)
• Today I listen to an Oak tree in a courtyard in the CBD of Canberra.

It is therefore no a surprise that I was entranced by what David had to say about trees and their connectivity to the environment, which includes us humans. 

Book Launch: Understory by Inga Simpson

Last night Inga Simpson's fourth book, Understory, was launched at the bookshop Muse Canberra. Rather than speeches, the audience listened to a conversation about the book between Inga and author, Kim Mahood. 

Inga spoke in a relaxed manner but showed that she is a passionate and thought provoking woman. 

To date Inga has experienced many journeys. She told the audience about growing up on a farm and how this influenced her beliefs, Inga said, 'failure is not an option, you never give up.'

The audience learned that Inga is a resilient woman. One of these examples was her choice to make a tree change and establish a 'writers retreat shortly before the Global Financial Crisis hit.' Inga said that she 'didn't have any regrets about her move to the forest, to be closer to nature.'

The forest became Inga's creative space. She learned to respect her position in the landscape. Last night she reflected on 'making amends for what farming has done to the country.' Inga, like other tree changers, has planted trees to help correct the mistakes of the past.