I was reminded today that learning about nature can happen in your front yard. Walking today with a friend I noticed in the woods in front of my house a flower that I have never seen before but I thought it might be something I saw in a picture. My suspicions proved correct as I raced indoors to check out my wildflower identification guide. It was indeed a blood root. I took the time to learn about this pretty wildflower and read in a couple of places that the roots were used to make a red dye for various uses.
There are also tiny blue flowers that blanket my front yard called bluets. You won’t find them on lawns that have been treated, This is such a special little wildflower that reminds you it is Spring. Red bud trees and cherry trees are a few more native species to North Carolina that I can see right from my deck.
Why is it important to learn about this seemingly insignificant pieces of nature? It keeps you grounded for one thing. Knowing more about the world you live in makes it easier to understand as well as knowing more about yourself. For me it is also about stress management. If I am focused on the big picture, it keeps small things that stress me out on a day to day basis in perspective. In other words, it helps me to keep the connection I feel with the world around me intact.
If this sounds like something you would like to be more involved in, I would suggest becoming more in tune to the details around you when you are outdoors. You could be walking from your car to a store or a restaurant and notice some flower petals in the parking lot and you look up to find a cherry tree in bloom, or see birds and watch how they interact with each other and look for crumbs outside a bakery. I know I have had some fun watching a couple crows picking up pebbles along the road while on a walk in my neighborhood. These things may seem small but as you become more practiced at it you are able to notice even larger wonders that happen in nature before your very eyes much more often than you realize.
Please feel free to share the experiences you have enjoyed while outdoors and why this is important to you.