What was once inaudible or barely perceived, now echoes in the refuge of my waters.
It comes from afar, to bring to this present the sounds that harmonize memories.
From the low tone, red, ancestral and seismic U, I appreciate my flat feet, anchored to the earth.
The u vibrates in the connections between the outside and the inside, from the mountains of my native Colombia, in the estate of my origins, to the autumn of this intimate and latent awakening.
The u creates bridges in my tubes, the u makes a radiant, orange, and expansive light flowing to the plains of my womb. Paths that become clear, illuminating the dew of my vase, honoring the fertility that so often gave birth in silence.
I breathe an anticipatory song. You call me, make me remember myself.
I dance, laugh, play. Fusion. I listen to the meaning of the letters and vowels in my names and surnames. I am.
Here is my lineage sustained in the natural resonance of the wind, which from the top of a lush green with yellow flowers, proclaims my childhood free and wild.
I wish to see you, I follow your U’s. You, who see in the intrinsic shadows of the mist, find me, and I discover you in intuition. You sing what I need to hear.
Now my singing is accompanied by intention, and in frequency with emotions, so that the currents flow, stripping away the stagnation in forgetting me.
I have been deaf to the external noise and to those who shout imposing their discourse; silent to the hustle of the big city, with its avenues distracted by the volume of sleepless appliances.
Even more so, you remain there, suspended between two worlds, that of those who give and those who listen.
You and my voice, an honest bond in day and night chords, expanding. I am no longer prey.
You gift me tunes and claws, and I, alone, and in freedom, and healing, I hoot.
My New Year’s gift to you is the picture above. Lake Crescent, located near the Hoh Rainforest, and one of the quietest places in the United States according to the Gordon Hempton’s project, One Square Inch of Silence.
Between the holidays and the crazy weather, I doubt many of you were quiet or restful for very long. This month’s photo submission was a bit of a washout. I kind of suspected this might happen. Life, like all forms of energy has its own ebb and flow similar to water. I’m neither sad nor disappointed.
Please join me in thanking Lisa Troute and Tracy Abell for their photo submission!
So cute!
Gopher Tortoise By Lisa Troute Jupiter, Florida.
The Gopher Tortoise is a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in its native territory of the Southeastern United States. It is the only tortoise found naturally east of the Mississippi River. They can live up to 40-60 years in the wild and 90+ in captivity. (https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/reptiles/gopher-tortoise/)
Lisa says that a lot of animals use the tortoise’s burrows including snakes and small animals. I found this 1:45min clip on PBS Nature about how these other animals also rely on the burrows for safety during fires and hurricanes. This makes the Gopher Tortoise a Nature-Led hero in my book! Wolverines and Badgers might also make nice burrows, but they’re rarely inclined to share their home with others.
Unknown bird nest. Barr Lake State Park, Colorado. April 8, 2021 Tracy Abell / Another Day On the Planet
While Tracy captioned her picture as “Unknown bird nest” I had fun playing Forest Detective and we think we know whose nest this is. Our guess is that it belongs to a Bullock’s Oriole. This type of nest is called a “pendant nest”. I did my original search calling it a “hammock nest” and some other people searched for it calling it a “sock nest”. Whatever you want to call it though, it’s an interesting nest and I love it!
Thank you again Lisa and Tracy for giving me interesting pictures and non-rabbit holes to follow!
Finally, let’s just call this bonus content. Do you need more inspiration for getting excited about nature? Well, check out this lovely fellow and his Becorns! This is a true pleasure to watch. I also appreciate that he has a calm, casual voice similar to my own.
Video belongs to: David M Bird
Nature-Led New Year’s Goals?
If you’re the kind of person who likes to make goals for the new year, what are some of your goals for 2023?
Can you think of how to make these or other goals, Nature-led goals?
Future Photo Submissions:
January: Moss Due: January 31st (Posted Feb 1st PST)
Email to: natureledlife@gmail.com, Subject line: Photo Submission for [month] (Multiple months of photos in one email is fine.) Image: Attached as a .JPEG or .PNG file preferred. Captions each picture: Subject in the photo (if known), State/Providence & Country, Date (optional). Your name as you want it to appear, Your blog link (if you have one.) Feel free to add any interesting notes about a picture. I love interesting stories behind things! Let me know if it’s just for ‘my eyes only’ or if I can share any part of it with your photo. Pictures must be your own or you have permission from the Photographer to share it. All copyrights belong to their owners. This is just a free, fun, community site about nature.
As always, THANK YOU for being here and being part of the Nature-Led community!
But wait there’s more! Here is Dinah’s on the cusp photo submission for “Nature at Rest”!
Look friends! Beth finds us another cool music project, this time the music of trees! (Back in April she found the music of spiders.) At the time I tried the livestream only the Red oak was singing, but it was beautiful.
Silent tree activity, like photosynthesis and the absorption and evaporation of water, produces a small voltage in the leaves. In a bid to encourage people to think more carefully about their local tree canopy, sound designer and musician Skooby Laposky has found a way to convert that tree activity into music.
By connecting a solar-powered sensor to the leaves of three local trees in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Laposky was able to measure the micro voltage of all that invisible tree activity, assign a key and note range to the changes in that electric activity, and essentially turn the tree’s everyday biological processes into an ethereal piece of ambient music.
You can check out the tree music yourself by listening to the Hidden Life Radio—Laposky’s art project—which aims to increase awareness of trees in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the city’s disappearing canopy by creating a musical “voice” for the trees.
The Nature-led Life 