One of my favorite things to do is to go for hikes and walks in the woods. Sometimes it is with Penny, and sometimes it is with Ben. Regardless of who is with me, I always find something that draws my attention in and I have to take a picture (or twelve) of it. Unfortunately, most of those pictures simply end up on my phone. On rare occasions, one or two may end up on Instagram, but for the most part, they are forgotten about.
One of my favorite YouTube channels is Park Notes with Parker Settecase (he also has a Substack that is worth checking out: Parker’s Ponderings on Substack). He talks about philosophy, books, note-taking, and one of my favorite topics, notebooks. In one of his recent videos, A Notebook to Reconnect with Nature, he talks about using a notebook to document your time in nature. It could be writing about animals you may see, different sceneries, how you were feeling during your time out in nature or even doing sketches of things you see and find along the way. I’ve been toying around with the idea of doing something similar, but I wasn’t sure where to start. So, this video came out at the perfect time!
Luckily, Ben really likes bird watching and is always pointing out birds that he has seen or heard and we listen to the songs that the birds sing. He is also extremely patient when I want to stop and take pictures of the birds and other flora and fauna we see on our walks.
And now I have a use for all the pictures I take!
The first entry into my nature journal is a swan Ben and I have seen several times this spring. She has been sitting on her nest, caring for her future cygnets. A few times we have watched her adjusting the nest and checking on the eggs. It has been pretty incredible to see.
We have also seen her mate, the male swan swimming near the nest, making sure none of the other swans, ducks and occasional loon get too close to her.
My plan for my nature journal has 2 parts. Part one will be in my beloved Moleskine Sketchbook. The one I am using is their Japanese Album, which comes with accordion pages. It’s going to be a great sketchbook to work on rough, quick pencil sketches and to takes notes about the things I see and fall in love with.
The second part of this will be turning those rough sketches and photographs into digital paintings. I’m still learning my way around Procreate and this will ensure I get lots of practice!
I am looking forward to this project. I am excited to see how it changes how I look at and experience nature. I’m also excited about all the places it may take us and all the new and fun things we will get to see along the way.