Greentime

 

Hammond Pond Reservation, Newton, MA

    I often do the assignments I give to my students, so this past November I made a vision board for the first time along with my 6th grade class. I made one on my desire to go on nature walks every weekend- regardless of the weather. Up till now I’ve been a 3-season outdoor walker but this year with all the limitations of the pandemic I wanted to continue doing one of the few things that gets me out of the house. So I printed out my vision board and pinned it to the bulletin board above the desk where I teach remotely throughout the week and wrote “nature walk” on every Saturday in my calendar. Surprisingly, it’s actually working!

Girls walking on trail
 MassAudubon, Canton, MA

Sometimes one or both of my children come with me, occasionally a friend will meet up with me, and often I go it alone, especially in freezing temperatures and precipitation. Regardless of  the details, each time it makes me happy. I’ve rediscovered local walks transformed by the season and found there are so many places  a short drive away. 

Meadow Grass

Nahanton Park, Newton, MA

With so much of my week anchored to screens, to escape into nature, even if it borders the back of a shopping mall or a residential area, it really feels like a true definition of escape- an act of breaking free from confinement or control. Small common forms of life, like shelf fungi and moss, or remnants of times past, such as a stone wall or Roxbury pudding stone, are a glorious retreat from the work desk where all that seems to grow are to-do lists, emails, and google documents. The cow bird sitting on a tree top, the sound of my breathing, the smell of unadulterated air gives me sustenance and hope.

 

Trichaptum, Cold Spring Park, Newton, MA

Yesterday I took a little used path through a little patch of Red Maple wetland forest and it was so delightful. There was just a foraging squirrel, a few mallard ducks, skunk cabbages, and spring grass. A stream ran through it all and with the sun out in full, it felt like a magic gift. And now, back at home, bracing myself for another week of work, the experience of being in nature bolsters me to make it through and plan for next week's greentime.

 

Broom Moss
Webster Conservation Area, Newton, MA