december

All JDCF preserves will be closed Dec. 4-7 during deer firearm season.

“A December Walk – A Present to Yourself” by Master Naturalist Pam Johnson.  All photos (c) Pam Johnson/JDCF.

In December the temperature reached 50 degrees, the sun was out and the air was calm. It was a perfect day for a walk at Wapello Preserve in Hanover. I love walking this time of year for I have no agenda – no birds to count, no plants to identify and no pictures to take. I just am able to walk with my senses open to what is there. What I first notice is the silence, most of the birds are gone. The occasional sound of the Baptisia pods rattling in the occasional breeze is the only sound to break this silence. I notice a hawk quietly soaring overhead against a clear blue sky. He dives down into the prairie possibly finding a mouse. I wait to see if he comes out again. When he does, he patrols over my head to judge my presence. Sensing neither food nor a threat he flies away.

As I continue my walk along the Apple River path, I see the sunlight reflecting off the seeds of the forbs. The overall impression is that of a monochrome painting with highlights of silver. There is beauty in the Christmas tree-like remains of the Showy Goldenrod and the dark seed heads of the coneflowers. Grass clumps visually punctuate the view. Big and Little Bluestem, Indian Grass and Canada Rye still are recognizable. I even discover Sideoats Grama which normally does not attract attention in the height of the forbs display of summer.

With the leaves gone from the trees, their bones and bark are evident. The Wafer Ash seeds still dangle from the branches. The samara of the Box Elder hang like ornaments from the tree boughs. Wild Clematis vines wind up the trunks revealing their wispy spiderlike seed pods. During the summer I rarely notice the vines.

Other hidden treasures can be found when winter arrives. I spot an Oriole’s nest hanging in a tree by the river. On the part of the prairie that was black from burning, I find the white bones scattered where a deer died. Although I never have seen a deer there, I see their paths through the prairie from the road to the water.

I am reminded of an essay I just read ‘Wonder: A Practice for Everyday Life‘ by Munju Ravindra (From Hope Beneath Our Feet). She postulates that “In wonder is the preservation of the soul. Wonder connects me to something larger than myself and gives me the energy I need to keep on agitating. It also gives me the reason.” She has created for herself a wonder workout. I re-worked her list of exercises to make them my own.

My Wonder Workout:
~ Populate my living space with things that I find, leaves, bones, nuts, nests. When you encounter them at home you will relive the ‘wonder’.
~ Spend a day with a young child and see the world through their eyes.
~ Lie on your back under the stars and listen.
~ Go alone on a walk in the woods or the prairie.
~ Wander down an unknown path.
~ Hold something yucky – and get over it!