Hello everyone! How is your challenge to connect going? Did you and your family get outside everyday last week? Did you complete last weeks activity “Spy On Squirrels?” If yes, how did you rate? Feel free to share how it’s going in the comments below. I’d love to hear all about it.
My daughter and I take our dog on a long walk every day. We are always out for at least 45 minutes but I do not count this as getting outside for at least 20 minutes unless we stop at the park to play, or stop to investigate some plants, animals or other wildlife for at least 20 minutes at some point during our journey. I don’t count it because we were already walking daily–and my resolution was to get outside more, so I only count more.
Of course you are welcome to count going for a walk as your 20 minutes outside, especially if you weren’t walking before or it was only something you did here and there. Walking is a great daily activity to get outside and connect especially if losing weight or getting in shape was another one of your goals. It’s always great to get two goals accomplished at once–win/win! However, if a walk or run was already a daily habit for you, I want to encourage you to find your 20 minutes outside elsewhere, or add something to it such as taking your nature journal or camera with you and pausing to connect at some point–the focus of this weeks activity.
Get Outside & Connect Activity Week #3:
Take your camera for a walk this week. Make sure that you and your children each have their own camera or have a turn using one. Instead of going on a walk somewhere you would usually take a camera, such as out into some local wilderness, I want to encourage you to take a camera on a walk in your neighborhood or somewhere you often go. Why? I want you to look for things that you have either never noticed, or stopped noticing.
Be aware of your surroundings and pay attention to the things you may have begun to tune out. Pause to connect with the surroundings that have you have been passing by. Look around for the things you may have been missing, take pictures, and record your thoughts and impressions in your nature journal. Afterwards, come on back and share your experience in the comments below. I can’t wait to hear about what you noticed.
The most important part of this activity is… when your child say’s look–really look!
If you don’t have a child or can not go on this walk with them pay attention to what your inner child notices.
The pictures shown are of a walk my daughter and I took last week–during week #2 of “Get Outside & Connect.” Although it is one of the more beautiful walks that we go on into the nearby orchards that surround our home it inspired this weeks activity.
See you outside!
Other articles in the Get Outside & Connect Series:
I have a nature story from this week: Along the fence behind our house is a newly planted garden of drought tolerant perennials. Almost from the start there were dozens of caterpillars on all of the ‘Asclepius’ plants! They were the larvae of the Monarch Butterfly, which is currently enduring hard times. Every few days some of the caterpillars turned into pupae (cocoons) and then emerged a fairly short time later as orange butterflies with black stripes – Monarchs. They dried their wings in the sun and then flew around the neighborhood.
They also came back and laid the eggs of a new generation.
Here it is January, and on my way past the garden today I saw two plump caterpillars enjoying the sunshine following our recent chilly, rainy weather.
Way to go, critters! Don’t give up!
What a wonderful story… Thank you for sharing! Go butterflies go!