Learning

The cold, quiet winter forest has much to teach.

Watson Mill State Park, Georgia, U.S.

- – Map -

- February 5, 2020 - -

Winter is a good time to remain still and watch. The world is naked, dazzling in the winter light. It is easy to focus. Single flowers break through the frost. Buttercups, trout lily, dandelion, and Skunk Cabbage leaves in the wet bottomlands. You can count the buds on bare dogwood branches and still-leafed holly.

There is less of you here, more of the world around you. You learn by being quiet. Leaves fall one by one, each with a clatter as it lands, all winter long. Orange dust appears, grows and extends to reveal fungi, and returns to dust again. The wind tastes of rain long before the clouds appear.

All of this is to say, it is not you and the world, it is the world with you.

- - -

Georgia wood in black and white photographed by luxagraf

- - - - - -

Lake at Fort Yargo photographed by luxagraf

- - - - - - -

boy looking through magnifying glass photographed by luxagraf

- - - - - -

detail of fungi under magnifying glass photographed by luxagraf

- - - -

- -

It is the world within you. There is no world without you. Existence is a relationship. It put you in it to learn. You put what you learn in it. It puts more in you. Give and give. No taking. You’re not here for long, there’s no time to take. Barely time to give what you can. Better still: remain motionless, watch, wait, listen, observe.

- -

- -

boy climbing tree photographed by luxagraf

- -

Watson Mill Covered Bridge in black and white photographed by luxagraf

- -

Down below the falls I watched a great heron feed. It moved slowly, sometimes not at all for longer than I can endure sitting still. And then when it need to, it snapped so fast I could not see it move, only the head coming up with a fish.

This is the way to learn I think. Moments of sudden insight are rare. Rather there are a whole lot of moments that come together so gradually you don’t notice them. Even in hindsight they seem painfully slow in arriving. But then, at some point, you holding that fish in your beak and you know.

Watching the kids learn is like this. There is no day I could point to and say, this is when they learned to read, this is when they learned to write. There are simply days that pass, and more days, and more days, and then — fish.

- - -

Girls at table with notebooks, Homeschooling photographed by luxagraf

- - - - - - -

boy smiling, homeschooling photographed by luxagraf

- - - - - -

homeschool playing photographed by luxagraf

- - - - - - -

Children painting bark photographed by luxagraf

- - - - - - -

- - - - - -

seashells, books, magnifying glass photographed by luxagraf

- - - -

- -

When we decided to spend autumn and winter here it felt like another defeat to me, like spending summer in Texas, like we had once again failed life’s geographic climate test. We’re supposed to chase the weather, be in the sunny deserts of the west, or down at the beaches of Mexico.

Now though I am glad we were here. There is much to learn in not getting what you want.

There is much to learn from discomfort — like how fast you adapt to cold for instance — much to learn from the leaves falling, much to learn from herons fishing in the cold waters, much to learn from the forest when it falls silent for the winter.

Fauna and Flora

- -

Birds
- American Crow
- American Goldfinch
- Barred Owl
- Black-and-white Warbler
- Black Vulture
- Brown Thrasher
- Carolina Chickadee
- Carolina Wren
- Chipping Sparrow
- Downy Woodpecker
- Eastern Bluebird
- Eastern Phoebe
- Eastern Whip-poor-will
- Great Blue Heron
- Killdeer
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Mockingbird
- Osprey
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Summer Tanager
- Tufted Titmouse
- Turkey Vulture
- Wood Thrush
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
-

- - -

Snow Day

Cold white magic

Watson Mill State Park, Georgia, U.S.

- – Map -

- February 19, 2020 - -

It starts falling when we’re at the hardware store, filling the propane tank. At first I try to downplay it for the kids. I don’t want them to be disappointed if it turns out to be just a couple flurries, which is all we’re likely to get in this part of the world. Still, the chickadees and titmice were particularly chatty and busy this morning. Maybe.

Driving back to the campsite though I can see it’s sticking to the ground in the colder areas, the tops of trees, on grass in open fields. The birds are on to something I think. I allow myself to get a little excited. The kids are way ahead of me, yelling about a real snow day.

By the time we get back to the site it’s coming down hard and clearly sticking to the ground. Jackets and gloves go on, everyone piles outside into the winter wonderland.

- - -

snow falling on bare trees and road photographed by luxagraf

- - - - - - -

girl in red jacket in the snow photographed by luxagraf

- - - - - -

man in black hoodie in snow photographed by luxagraf

- - - - - - -

kids playing in falling snow photographed by luxagraf

- - -

- -

Anyone living north of Georgia will probably chuckle at this amount of snow. I know. I lived in Massachusetts for a few years. It’s not snow much, but it’s enough to put smiles on everyone’s faces.

Maybe it’s more special because it is harder to come by snow in these parts. Six inches of snow in this part of Georgia somehow feels more miraculous than three feet ever did in Northampton. Maybe I am just weird though, I used to get excited every time it snowed up there too. Even when it snowed in May. There’s just something great about snow.

This was not the first time the kids have seen snow, but it might as well have been — it’s been years since they’ve been in it.

I always say we chase the weather, and we try to, but when you fail at that, then you might as well get some snow out of it. And for once, we did.

- -

kids playing in the snow photographed by luxagraf

- -

girl in red jacket walking through the snowy woods photographed by luxagraf

- -

After an hour so the cold began to set in. We don’t really have the clothes for snow. Cotton is not your friend in a snowball fight. Wet and cold I was ready to warm up. Lilah was undaunted though. She made me take her for a snow hike.

We walked down the river to see snow on the covered bridge, but water was running high and cold made white vapor that all but obscured the bridge. On the hike back the cold finally overcame her and I carried her the last half mile up the hill. We caught a couple last snowflakes on our tongues and ducked inside to dry off and drink hot cocoa. And play a few intensely competitive games of Uno. As you do.

- - -

dirt road through the snowy woods photographed by luxagraf

- - - - - -

snow on bare winter branches photographed by luxagraf

- - - - - -

watson mill bridge through heavy fog and mist photographed by luxagraf

- - - - - - -

girl trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue photographed by luxagraf

- - - - - -

boy drinking hot cocoa photographed by luxagraf

- - - -

- -

The world seemed to warm up with us. By the time we went back outside for round two, melting snow was coming down like a hard rain. By evening our white wonderland was gone.

Fauna and Flora

- -

Birds
- American Crow
- American Goldfinch
- Barred Owl
- Black-and-white Warbler
- Black Vulture
- Brown Thrasher
- Carolina Chickadee
- Carolina Wren
- Chipping Sparrow
- Downy Woodpecker
- Eastern Bluebird
- Eastern Phoebe
- Eastern Whip-poor-will
- Great Blue Heron
- Killdeer
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Mockingbird
- Osprey
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Summer Tanager
- Tufted Titmouse
- Turkey Vulture
- Wood Thrush
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
-

- - -

You might also enjoy

Land

Old Growth

Rite of Spring

Too Much Sunshine

You might also enjoy

Rite of Spring

Cape San Blas

The Ghost of Cochise

Dolores River