Learning the Language of Nature

The woods don't speak, but there is a language there for us to hear and translate if we discover just how.

Another Sunday arrived. One where for a brief moment the sun shone. This is a sign the clouds can dissipate just enough because the lake has become cold and frozen. The jet stream bringing cold air creates fewer and fewer masses of clouds and the sun can once again peek beneath them. It's a thing that becomes far more common in February. We lose sight in the depths of winter of the fact that the sun has begun pinging back towards the north to lengthen our days. It appears under the clouds in a new place than it did at the beginning of the month and for a brief moment, the sun casts pink light on the walls in the kitchen.

This light from the sunsets soon will shift to another part of the kitchen and then eventually right before spring it will no longer be pink on the walls around dinner. Instead, it will be after we eat and we will watch it dip behind the hills due west on our evening walks. Then at the beginning of summer, we will sit on the porch warmed and golden as the kids play in the fading light right before we lay our heads on our pillows, aching from days of outdoor work and calluses forming on our hands. It will dance pink then on the walls in our bedroom at nearly 11 pm and we will wish for the darkness in the way we ache for the light now.

This observation of the position of the light on our walls and what it means for our days, times, rhythms, and routines, and even what to wear has taken me time to learn. Sitting on a hill facing west makes you keenly aware of the sun and the moon’s patterns and what they mean in our days. The way it ping pongs across the sky through the year from the southwest in the winter to due west in spring and fall and northwest in the summer is like a calming routine we can trust. I have begun marking in my notes the sunsets where they cast light on the walls when it happens and how it correlates to our daily lives. I watch it intently as if it has something to tell me because it does. Not in the way that words develop in a sentence. It is far deeper than that. Watching the position of the sun is something felt in the cells of my body. As if like the birds, I know when migration is close to occurring.

This feeling has taken time, over 7 years. 7 years of observing the patterns like the well-rutted tracks of the deer in the ground through the woods on the land are marks and patterns to read like the book on my bedside table. I watch the trees shifting their energy quietly. From deep winter when they stand bare and skeletal, whipped by the intense winds and snow storms that beat onto our hill to when the snow melts from the base I know that spring is beginning even if the snow still sits over the land and in the valleys.

Over the years, I have kept logs like notes from a course I am taking. I note things in the garden. I know to plant the peas just after the buds on the trees are bulging or when the garlic is pulled it is time for the 2nd round of beans and soon the Kale will follow the beans. One thing always leads to another through the circle.

These rhythms are a pattern that over time write a story, a language, or rather a movement of energy we can learn how to read and pay attention to. We often think of patterns as things we visually see. Like the branching shape of grasses or trees or how plants leaf in a circular motion up the stalk using a very clear angular system, you can learn about here, but not all patterns are visible. Some patterns are feelings and larger than just a visual thing in our world. Whether it be the way humans move through a landscape or space or even the routines we keep.

The thing is that routines are patterns, too. The circular movement of our years, the phases of the moon, and the changing seasons are rhythmic like songs, and soon, if we listen properly, we will know just how to dance with them.

As the climate shifts, I am realizing I cannot depend on the research about my zone much or if at all. It is a wonderful guide to the history of things, but the present is too volatile in shifts and changes to be predicted through history. I have to observe and listen well enough to my land that I know the timing in my body because of the signs out on the hills and valleys I reside in. I need to look to my land to teach me just when to do things. When the garlic sprouts we are only weeks from planting tomatoes and peppers. When I pull the garlic, I know that the tomatoes are 6 weeks from being ripe and ready for harvest. These rhythms aren’t ones I can give notes to others about. They are mine and mine alone. Just like we must find these things within ourselves as well. I have to learn how to follow the lead of nature by understanding the intricate pattern language that is spoken right outside my door. I cannot listen to the same language though that is spoken a few miles away by someone else. No. I have to learn this land, this place’s exact language in the patterns it gives me year over year.

It’s like learning a dialect in a region even if you know the language they speak. It’s like learning the slang of a generation. You must listen and take in all the patterns of the system to understand just what is being said. I believe I am only beginning to hear the language here. Just beginning to feel I am dancing to the rhythm of the way it moves. I am just now feeling I am in the circle of understanding. I am still very much learning because it takes years and plenty of willingness to be present and listen.

Connecting the dots of the way this land speaks is one of my favorite things to listen to. I know that when the Robin comes to peck on the seeds the chickadees left after winter, that spring is officially not turning back even if a few snow storms still crop up. I know that when the Bluebird comes to nest, summer is no longer a hopeful thought, but an inevitable moment ahead of us. I also know when these birds begin to leave and the silence falls around us that winter’s cold is just a few weeks off. I may not know how to understand their songs yet, but I do know their presence means a whole lot only because I sit and listen, watch, and build spaces where they can come to show me these rhythms.

Now, as the snow swirls in spirals around the coop and the stalks of the fennel are whipped to the ground by the high winds, I know we are in the deepest part of winter. The time in which we settle into the warmest parts of our homes. This is the moment we tend to ourselves and we dream about the possibilities of the land when the blanket of snow melts away and reveals the truth of the work before us. I know this is the time to prepare for spring and summer which will pull in ways winter never does. I know soon enough the birds will return. I know they will make their homes once again around us and we will listen to them with gratitude for their arrival. Till then, I am thankful to enjoy these slow days to dream and rejuvenate for the seasons ahead. Knowing this is the point in the rhymic dance of the season where we pull back, take stock, and collect ourselves so we can thrive when the sun reaches the west.

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How to Read The Language of Nature

Before anyone begins asking, how do I find community? I am answering the question. In our world, as adults, it can feel challenging, so I am giving some ideas and thoughts, which I have learned doing myself:

• Begin with a Season Wheel: I find it helps a lot to have a wheel of the seasons. Slowly mark your way around it as moments pass. It gives a visual to the pattern and rhythm we are experiencing almost like a road map. This also helps you to write notes on as well about what you are observing. If you are a paid subscriber, I have one in the member section with my own notes for you.
  

• Look for Visual Patterns in Nature: In order to feel the nuances of the language we must first take in the most obvious things. When we are learning a language we start with the simplest things. So hunt and draw the textures and patterns we find in nature. Look at the branches of the tree or the texture and growth of the bark. Draw them. Observe them. Study them. Note where you find similarities and where you feel something feels unique.
  

• Track the birds at your house: This was the first place I noted changes. I started noting the return of birds. When they happened and when they left. Over time I found them as predictable to the time of the year as the sunlight itself. You can use an app like the one from Cornell called Merlin.
  

• Keep a Daily/Weekly/Monthly Log of Nature Happenings: I just keep a note on my phone for each year. A log of the things that you are noting happening. Start with once a week and if you can add more days it is always helpful.
  

• Watch the sun and moon: The sun and the moon have their own patterns. Observing the the position of the sun week to week throughout the year or the phase of the moon are really amazing ways to pay attention to the language and patterns in nature. Note the things that shift with these movements too.
  

• Find a Sit Spot: In Permaculture, it is always suggested that you find a spot to sit and observe. One spot that you always return to. For instance, I work right in front of a big window that looks out over our coop and orchard. It is really beautiful to watch the seasons shift and change from this one position over the year. This can also be in your yard or in a park you visit frequently near your apartment in a city. It doesn’t matter, just find a spot that works for you.
  

• Make it fun! The most important thing! I love to enjoy the varying details that shift and change through the seasons. it is always a fun exploration.
  

In what ways are you learning the language of nature? What tips would you share?

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First-time big skiing with my daughter off the bunny hill. She is doing so awesome. She loves to go way too fast like me.

On my mind this week

Just some things happening and that I am thinking of lately:

• Skiing in the Mountains: It is a HUGE birthday month in our family. I start the cascade where we have a birthday nearly every single week till the end of February. One way we planned to celebrate was to head out west as a family to Breckenridge. It is my first time skiing in the mountains. I have been physically preparing for over 3 months to be my strongest self for this. So I am excited to experience long runs and fewer lifts to keep the fun going. I am also so excited about some time in the mountains. Oddly it will be much warmer out there than we have felt since November so it will almost be balmy. I am excited!
  

• Top Gear Pick - Balaclava : I told you guys I would keep sharing my favorite gear. Before the trip, I did some research on face masks. The winds in the mountains can be nearly as bad as the bitter ones here and I felt I needed a good Balaclava. I sort of made it through with the basics because I don’t like buying new a lot, but this one I did some research on, and everyone else in the family has one of these so I snagged one too! I tested it this weekend and it is as good as I expected. These are awesome because they fit under your helmet well or if you are just outside in the winds they keep you nice and cozy.
  

• Folk School Launch: I am happy to share that I will be teaching a 3-day class this April for the brand new folk school in our area, Green Door Folk School. Check out the list of classes this spring. I love teaching and sharing ideas. It is so special to have this sort of learning as an option in our community in Traverse City and Leelanau. If you are coming to visit the area this summer, sign up to get announcements of summer classes and support this new option in our city.
  

• Eco Cleaning: I am always a little leary of greenwashing and I pretty much solely clean our home with vinegar and Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds but I love to keep hand soap for instance in a little more of a high-end realm. I think it’s nice for guests coming to visit and such, but I find it hard to find hand soaps and such that are great on our hands, smell nice, and have refillable bottle options. I recently tried Koala Eco and even our picky scent selector (my son) approves this is the best one we have used yet. I love what they are doing so if you want to keep hands and dishes clean with refillable options, this is a great option this winter. ps. if you sign up for emails you get 20% off your first order.
  

• Outdoor Furniture: Yeah yeah there is literally a front-end loader currently moving snow at my house we have so much right now, BUT winter always ends and it is literally my job to think about landscapes and I am currently deep in envisioning quite a few amazing properties. One of the things I always am tossing around with clients is their outdoor furniture. As a Permaculture Designer, my goal is to look for products that are in the least sustainable, but at best they are permanent and become part of the landscape. I love this board on my work Pinterest right now. It is where I gather a lot of ideas.
  

• Music and Inspiration: When I am designing a landscape, each one has a soundtrack that carries me through the design. Everything from Zach Bryan to Khalid to classic piano from Ethiopia to just recently Billie Eilish. I am always fascinated by how this happens. Every time I start a design I wait to see what clicks with my brain to work me through that design itself. I will try to listen to something else and it never works till I turn back on that album.
  

• Upcycled Clothing: I am completely obsessed with vests such as this one right now. I am for sure going to snag one at some point, but I love they are upcycled and it brings me a lot of joy. I am personally really inspired by thrifting clothes and finding upcycled pieces. I have more or less only been thrifting clothes for the last few years other than a couple of things like undergarments and socks as well as one coat. It is really fun to hunt things down and also see the creativity of what people are making.

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