Need a reason to go for a walk in the woods this winter?  I have 5 for you today!

1. You can hear more. Ever walked in the woods when it was snowing? Remember the hush? Even when it isn’t snowing, a winter nature walk is quiet. No insects are singing, so you can easily distinguish the bird calls you do hear.
2. You can see more. When you do hear a bird call, you can find the source easily. You can point it out to your children before it disappears among the leaves. You can see more than just the flash of a fox, you can watch it run – flaming orange against the white snow. And the tracks! So many tracks on the new fallen snow.
3. You can go farther and to new places. You can leave the trail. We have walked through parts our woods that just weren’t accessible to us in the summer. We’ve been able to turn right at the creek, instead of always turning left to follow the trail. We have found a young bamboo forest, and an old well, and
4. You don’t have to worry about poison ivy, ticks, or thorns. This possibly should have been #1. As the mom who has to remove the ticks, bandage the cuts, and prepare the soothing compresses, I love not having to worry about what the children will bring home.
5. You get more exercise. Breaking though a foot of snow can be hard work. Your body warms up, and you feel good! And because you’re hearing more, seeing more, going farther and discovering you things without worry, you don’t want to stop.

As Jean said we are on the cusp of spring, less than a month until the Vernal Equinox (March 20, the first day of spring). There is still time to walk in the woods in winter though. Remember these 5 reasons when you’re wondering if all the bundling and preparation to “go outside” is worth it!

What is your favorite thing about walking in the woods in winter?

Starting a Nature board on Pinterest isn’t enough. I can’t just believe nature to be important, I have to walk the talk. Literally.

Wednesday I wrote the original draft of yesterday’s post on noticing, knowing, and being in nature. I knew I had to take the children and myself outside. I can’t just believe nature to be important, I have to walk the talk. Literally.

We bundled up. Extra pants, hats, scarves. As it turned out, 23 degrees and sunny isn’t too cold.

My 5yo made large footprint spirals in the fresh snow and then insisted on pretending to be a dragon and travel through the snow on the edge of the road on all fours. I was impatient. Why couldn’t she just walk on the asphalt with me? That would certainly be faster. And my older boys were ahead, out of sight, in the woods already.

That is not walking the nature talk. I needed to stop. Well, I already was stopped, waiting for her to catch up. I needed to breathe. I needed to notice she was being in nature. Her face was inches from the snow as she galumped along.

We did reach the woods. We spent an hour in total outside – looking at tracks, testing the ice on the creek, climbing over fallen logs. It was a good hour, a great hour. It was a nature walk. Not a march, not a hike, just a walk.

We took an evening walk as well, to the park. It was colder then, but we enjoyed it. The clouds had started to move in, but as we walked home, one of the boys looked up and there was the constellation Orion. We all stopped to find his three star belt – the one constellation we all know. There were, noticing the stars, knowing the stars, being under the stars together. Walking the talk.

How many constellations will we learn this year? How many will we be able to name if we stop looking down at our cellphones as we walk under the sky?

Yesterday it was even colder, 11 degrees, and yet we bundled up again and went out. My 12yo checked his snow den and discovered it really was warmer.  We don’t just need quality time in nature, we need quantity time in nature. Even in the cold.

In the woods, by the creek, we saw a bird – it seemed blueish, with a large head and had a kind of crest, and made a very distinctive call as it flew by. Definitely not a blue jay, could it be a kingfisher? When we got home (and thawed out) my 5yo and I searched the Merlin Bird app on my phone. Yes, there is a time for technology!  When she played the call of the kingfisher, my 12yo called from the other room, “That was it!” We noticed, we know!

We are walking the nature talk. Won’t you walk with us?

~Lee

Winter’s heavy hand rests on the Eastern Coast. Freezing rains, snow that won’t pack, sullen gray skies, and the toe-numbing cold. What is a mom who believes that “nature is important” to do when the both she and the kids are in danger of turning into screen-zombies?

Yesterday, I pulled out a book for inspiration: Hunting Red.

The young narrator notices nature all around. She hunts with her eyes for the royal catchfly flower, and with her ears for the piercing whistle of the cardinal.

She knows what she finds by name – from the enormous pileated woodpecker to the tiny scarlet cup.

And she takes time to just be in nature – sitting quietly against a dead tree trunk or hiking the tallgrass prairie.

To notice nature we will have to be in nature. To know nature we will have to be in nature, and we will have to do some research. To be in nature we will have to make the conscious choice to go outside.

Notice.

Know.

Be.

This is what I want for my children and myself. It’s time to go outside and walk the talk. Come along for the adventure!