I found that there were secrets in the mountains and songs in the streams. I found poems in the forests and treasure hunts among plants and power in the rocks. I found homes in little nooks and made tea for woodland parties. I questioned the wonders of the universe, counted stars and blades of grass alike, fell asleep in the rain on a bed of pine needles and ferns. I wanted to see more, do more, to climb higher. I wanted to whisper to the praying mantis and scream to th

“The soil was soothing, strengthening, cleansing, and healing.” As I have grown up, shoes have pretty much been optional. Of course I had to wear them to school or the store and other similar places, but the other majority of time I was barefoot and I loved it. I was barefoot in the house and playing in the garden. I was barefoot feeding chickens and swinging on the playset. I was barefoot skipping across the street with my sister to see if the neighbors could play and r

Every Tuesday, I take a group of kids out to trails and wild spaces and we spend two hours doing something we like to call a Nature Hike. They show up, water bottles in hand, and start creating their nature journals, where we write down the flora and fauna that we will be looking for on that day’s scavenger hunt. We may write Willow, Plantain, and Cattails, or Oak, Pine, and Mustard...the list goes on and on. We leave space for the drawings that will fill the pages once we fi