Tag Archives: nature

Best of 2023: My Year in 12 Photos

A few years back I got annoyed at the way that Instagram selected my “best 9” photos of the year and created a practice for myself of selecting my own “best” photos of the year. This year I have continued this tradition of taking time to look through my daily photos (it’s a rare day when I don’t take a photo) in order to find a subset that I will call the “Best of 2023.” The forced choice of picking a best for each month pushes me to think about what makes a photo best. Is it the subject matter? The experience that accompanied the photo? The actual photo itself? Other’s reactions to the photo? I think the answer may be a combination of all of the above!

My January 2023 photo captures my wonder when watching pelicans. I marvel at how they get low and skim the waves, seemingly almost running their wings along the edge of the swell. In this photo I love the way the squadron of pelicans in formation demonstrates this “surfing” behavior while also capturing the energy and movement of the waves and the range of colors of the water as the sun does its magical work. If I could change anything about this photo I would want to get closer (that would require a stronger zoom lens)…and I think a sunset version would be magnificent.

There is something so compelling about this tiny lifeguard tower in Solana Beach that perches on the cliff, jutting out into the sea. I’ve taken many version of this photo–and this is my favorite direction to shoot from. I love the low tide exposure, showing the rocks that are oftentimes covered with the sea. This unfiltered photo shows the February light on an afterwork walk, capturing the ordinary beauty of this less-than-ordinary, but functional building. I’d love to know more about the history of the building, who decided it needed to be here, why this design…and even when the decision was made to make lifeguard towers less permanent and more portable.

March shows off the playful aspects of daily photos. I’m constantly trying to capture movement in still photos. This was a windy day and the palms were showing their flexibility. To make the photo more dramatic and interesting, I did some filter play, enhancing the colors and showing the interplay of sun, sky, clouds, and wind (through the movement of the trees). I go with the adage that the best camera is the one that you have with you…and you’ll notice that many of my photos are taken with my phone.

April meant Spring Break, and in 2023 our break included a road trip to Zion National Park in Utah. In spite of that fact that it was “Spring” break, the weather was unseasonably cold…and while you’ll notice bright sun in this photo, we experienced snow, ice, wind, and rain on this trip. None of that kept us from hiking and taking photos. I love the contrast in this image of the white of the cliffs and the blue of the sky along with the long, sharp icicles hanging down. Angles and light and shadow keep drawing me back to this image…along with the brilliant blue of the April sky.

Lucky for me, I don’t have to go far from home to find interesting subjects to photograph. In May, a trip to the local lagoon brought me up close to this teeny tiny hummingbird. A colder than usual spring meant that the trees were still relatively bare, allowing a good view of this tiny gem against the steel gray sky.

But in June, I did travel a long way to find some different, interesting subjects to photograph. And inclement weather was a theme all year. With our school year ending earlier than usual (on June 2nd!), we hopped on a plane and headed to Maine to explore Acadia National Park. While it rained almost every day we were there, we didn’t let it dampen our adventurous spirits. We were lucky to get a short reprieve from stormy seas to head off on a boat to see puffins (which we did) and also get some spectacular views of lighthouses like this one. This composition reminds me of a postcard, filling the space both side to side and up and down. If only the light were illuminated! (Unfortunately, this was not a working lighthouse.)

Back in California, in July we took another roadtrip to explore the mountains in the middle of the state. Mammoth Mountain includes snowy peaks, gorgeous lakes and geologic phenomenon as well as interesting flora and fauna. While exploring Convict Lake I found myself mesmerized by the swallowtail butterflies fluttering, flitting, and feeding on the local flowers. They were everywhere and in constant motion. This time I was trying to capture the stillness of these pollinators rather than action!

In spite of the fact that school now begins in early August, this is truly the heart of the summer. I love to watch surfing competitions and lucky for me, there are often quite a few to choose from at our local beaches. This longboard contest also included something they called a paddle out relay where surfers organized themselves into teams that raced (with long surfboards under their arms) to the water, paddled out and around a designated buoy and then returned to shore to tag a teammate and continue the race. I love the way this photo captures the action, the length of the board, and even the muscle definition of the surfer.

UCSD is the home of the San Diego Area Writing Project and the end of September was the date of our annual Fall Conference. Early Saturday mornings on a college campus are quiet, offering opportunities for photos that do not feature students. I love to take photos of the iconic Geisel library…and in this shot you can see Fallen Star (a Stuart Collection art installation) perched on the engineering building in the distance. I love the light and clouds reflected in the many windows of the library. I definitely have fonder memories of photographing this library than studying in it!

No, this isn’t night photography. This is a photo of the partial solar eclipse we experienced in October. Using an app called Solar Snap and a special sun filter to protect my eyes, I was able to enjoy this not-too-common event and capture this image of the moon passing in front of the sun giving the illusion of a crescent moon when what you are actually seeing is the sun with the moon in front of it. This is one of those images where the experience was an interesting part of the photography process.

I don’t think I could do a “best of” set of photos without at least one of my favorite bird to photograph! I take many photos of snowy egrets, some better than others. I love this one from November where the reflection is so mirror-like. One of the benefits of the early dark after daylight saving time ends is that sunsets and my daily walk often coincide. My photos show the magic of the “golden hour,” where the light is perfect and photos have that magical quality that is otherwise so hard to obtain.

Somehow in December, between holiday celebrations and visits to and from family, we managed to squeeze in a trip to Yosemite. I’m not sure there is a bad day in this very special place. This late afternoon light was perfect for capturing the reflection of El Capitan and Bridalveil Falls in the Merced river.

Even as I write about these twelve photos as my “best of,” I find myself questioning my choices. There isn’t a single sunset photo featured although I have taken many. I didn’t include any of the many selfies we use to document adventures (for good reason!). I tried to pick photos that represented a range of subjects and maybe even some photography techniques. I notice how I often use rule of thirds to my advantage and how I am drawn to natural frames and reflection. I’ve been working hard to capture action and I think that shows in some of these selection too.

Do you have a favorite of these twelve? How do you select your own “best of” photos? What makes one photo better than another?

Under the Influence of Acorns

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On some days, my students and I head outside for inspiration for our writing and learning and on other days, we bring nature right inside the classroom. Fall is known for leaves changing colors, animals preparing for winter, acorns dropping… But in southern California that isn’t what we see outdoors. Our trees are mostly green, the weather is warm, and no one really hibernates. But in first grade students don’t seem to notice that our fall is different…and so, we often import the icons of fall.

Yesterday after reading, Because of an Acorn and talking about the interconnectedness of plants and animals, we watched a video from a park ranger at Sequoia National Park where we learned more about oaks, acorns, and the communications between trees. And then I pulled out my stash of acorns, saved from a year ago when a friend from the central part of our state shared some from her neighborhood. My students examined these extra large acorns carefully, delighting in the texture of their caps, the smoothness of the acorn itself, and the way it rattled when they shook it (they have dried out somewhat after being in my classroom for a year). Then then carefully sketched the acorns and some oak leaves (using our book as reference). Many spontaneously began adding notes, noticing the point at the bottom, the variations in color, and more. Obviously the note taking carried over from our nature notebooking described in my previous post.

In this case, the goal of the sketching was practice for a watercolor project. Our subject was the acorn, and then we experimented with three different watercolor techniques: oil pastel resist (using oil pastel to create a border to keep paint from running), wet on wet (painting the background with water before applying the paint), and then adding some pinches of salt to create a starburst effect. First graders have so much freedom as artists, they grab the oil pastel with confidence, seemingly not worrying that they will not be able to erase a mistake. They drew and painted…with stunning outcomes.

And since the ranger in the video offered as a prompt, imagine a dialogue between trees…which we expanded to include a conversation between acorns and oaks, students experimented with writing about that interaction. They are new to the writing of dialogues, but their first drafts show some promise. Here’s a couple (typed by me for ease of reading).

An acorn falls off an oak tree. Am acorn hangs from a branch. An acorn drops and a chipmunk will eat it. Hi oak. Are you going to drop the acorns? Oh. I will when it is fall. Hey oak trees, you want to drop acorns! Now it is fall. The oak trees wait. Let me tell the other oak trees so they know. Now it is winter. The animals are hibernating. The bunnies are gathering food for winter.

And…

A squirrel asks an oak tree, can I have one acorn? The oak tree said no you can not have an acorn. Acorn said please! Okay said oak tree but I’m keeping an eye on you! And if you grow into a tree then I will talk to a scientist, so don’t forget squirrel. But wait! I have to tell the other oak trees so we can do a masting said oak tree. Hey oak trees, let’s do a masting yelled oak tree. The oak trees did.

My students were most impressed with their own volume of writing, most filling more than a page with their words. I love that they picked up on some of the science from the video–the idea of a masting, the phenomenon where oaks drop an extreme number of acorns every 3-5 years was information directly from the park ranger.

How are you letting #writeout influence your writing and the writing of your students?

Time to #WriteOut!

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I love October. The weather is warm–it’s still shorts weather. Many of the tourists have gone home, leaving the beaches and the freeways to the locals. My first graders are starting to believe they are writers–and it’s time for #WriteOut! #WriteOut is a partnership between the National Writing Project and the National Park service–a two week effort to encourage everyone to get outside, explore the nature around you, and write.

Last week we warmed up for #WriteOut by going for a Wonder Walk on our school campus. We started by reading the book Wonder Walkers by Micha Archer. This is a wonderful book full of questions like, “Is the wind the world breathing?” that also pushed my students to think beyond the literal, framing their observations through the lens of wonder. After reading and talking, students took their nature collectors (a piece of cardboard with rubber bands around it) and headed out to our pollinator garden to look and wonder and pick up some bits of nature to bring back into the classroom with us.

Later students had to pick just one item from their collection to examine much more closely. To facilitate that close observation, we pulled out our sketchbooks and started drawing, trying hard to capture all the details they could see in front of them. Using colored pencils to hone in on subtleties, they added dimension to their sketches. Then using nature notebooking prompts adapted from the work of John Muir Laws including labeling their sketch, adding what does it remind you of and what do you wonder about it, students completed their entry.

The results were stunning. And a perfect beginning to #WriteOut!

Thank You, Earth

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Gratitude and appreciation are essential elements in raising children to be naturalists and environmental stewards. We take care of what we love. Throughout the school year I have made an effort to integrate environmental literature and learning wherever I could across the curriculum. We participated in #writeout with the National Writing Project in October, doing wonder walks and exploring acorns. We made posters and wrote 6 words for the environment, advocating for the Earth. We learned about Ansel Adams and dandelions and made wishes that we hope will disperse like seeds–resilient and gritty–growing where they land, like dandelions themselves, making the Earth a better place. Last week we read Thank You, Earth by April Pulley Sayre, a beautiful book that combines photographs and descriptive language to express appreciation for all that nature has to offer. This became the inspiration for our own letters of gratitude to the Earth in the form of zines.

We made zines earlier in the school year, so it seems like perfect timing to come back full circle especially since students have made so much progress as writers and readers. To push their composition and zine making skills, this time we created a plan before launching into the zine itself. Students planned their front and back covers and the six interior pages before creating the actual zine. They were encouraged to stretch their ideas, adding detail and description for each page.

What I love the most is that students had so many ideas about what they are grateful for in nature. They love trees and clouds and rainbows. Animals (both cute and feisty according to one student), the ocean, and flowers were prevalent topics. Pollinators and water, and of course, constellations also were featured. In each of their zines, I can see traces of my teaching…about writing and art and the environment. Here’s a student reading her zine.

I am hopeful that these young students will grow up to be advocates for our planet, for healthy environments for everyone, for sustainable practices and clean energy. Finding spaces for students to learn about the challenges we face on our planet, about the importance of conservation, and about ways to stand up and voice both their appreciation and their concerns for the future are important and easily combined with the reading, writing, science, and art that are already the typical parts of school curriculum when you plan carefully.

Students’ notes of gratitude to the Earth will be on display for Open House next week, spreading their appreciation and awe of the natural world to their families and others who peek into our classroom. How might you construct and spread your message of gratitude to the Earth? I am looking forward to hearing your ideas.

Torrey Pine: NPM23 Day 23

Life Cycle? NPM23 Day 10

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An invitation to write a science poem–yes please! And the serendipity of our caterpillar sighting at school today made the perfect topic for the “whimsical science poems” at #verselove that Brittany prompted.

Life Cycle?

Caterpillar crossing

scrunch by scrunch

to the oohs and aahs

of its first grade audience

And then they notice the poop

on the picnic table and our eyes rise up

Fireworks explode

in a tree full of caterpillars

hanging

like tinsel

on a 1960’s Christmas tree

Will they be there tomorrow

or will they be

bird snacks

before

chrysalising

into blossoms

flying

egg laying

a new crop

of caterpillars

A life cycle continued

or broken?

Cliffs: NPM23 Day 7

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Today’s #verselove prompt was “death in a poem” and I struggled. My mind searched for ways to weave the theme of death into something I could handle on this last weekday of spring break. You’ll not be surprised that I turned to nature. I was thinking about the difference in the way we describe landslides (or in our parlance, cliff failures) on the southern CA coastline as compared to the way that landslides were described in Zion National Park. There, the landslide was an expected way that nature sculpts the landscape. Of course, there were also not multimillion dollar homes perched along the rim that crumbled. So, I’m not so sure that this qualifies as death in a poem, maybe instead it is life in a poem. I chose to use an etheree–a 10-line form that begins with a single syllable and build, adding a syllable to each line until you reach the tenth line with ten syllables.

Cliffs

Erode

Fail daily

Crumbling downhill

Everything tumbling

Into a pile below

Erosion meet gravity

Cliff death creates new habitat

Algae covers what was once a road

In nature, death offers new beginnings

Come Walk With Me: NPM23 Day 2

Slow as Snails: SOL23 Day 14

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First graders are slow, especially when you want them to speed up. Today we were running late to get out to the line of cars picking students up after school. I was hustling along, trying not to tie up the line that sometimes snakes out of the parking lot, down the street, and then threatens to spill out onto the busy street around the corner. I turn around and I have only one student with me. The rest have stopped back inside the gate where they are crouched down, faces peering closely at the rain-wet sidewalk. Parents are peering in, probably wondering just what is holding their children up in there. But I knew. My students are nature lovers with the softest, kindest hearts and no regard for time as we adults know it. And sure enough, they were saving a slug from the potential trample of the oncoming feet of other classes.

On so many occasions, my students seem to slither forward, maybe an inch at a time. Putting away headphones and iPad–that seems to take an eternity. Zip up the backpack (if you have managed to cram the items actually into its belly instead of having them slip out in all directions), another lifetime. Put your name on your paper, along with the date…still waiting.

But head down to recess…wait, don’t run me over! Where did this speed come from? These slow-as-snail kids can go from 0-50 in no time when the word recess is associated!

Art…Found: SOL23 Day 7

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I love art. The kinds in museums like the MOMA and MOCA as well as many other smaller and less well known museums. I love the kind of art that kids make in school, especially the versions that allow space for individuality and creativity.

And I love the kind of art that shows up unexpectedly. Like a face peering up out of the sand, a small array of rocks, perfectly arranged to show the flip of the hair, monochromatic and striking in its simplicity.

Then there is the abandoned collection, carefully selected and arranged. Tiny shells and shiny rocks, bits and pieces of sea life laid out to be appreciated.

I love the art that is composed, either by human or by nature, with attention to an out-of-place detail that draws the eye and says, “look at me!” A single delicate blossom, maybe swirled in the briny breeze until it landed, planted in contrast to the worn edges of the sea-tossed rocks.

And the abstract composition that can only be crafted by nature’s hand, reminiscent of the polka dots Yayoi Kusama is known for, carved by wind and water. Is it art or an apartment building for sea creatures, algae, and insects?

I love that art is both made and found, and that it is open to the interpretation of the maker and the viewer. As the mom of an artist, I recognize that art emerges, oftentimes without a fully formed narrative that explains its creation, meaning, and significance. It emerges from materials, from a spark, from a moment…or from struggle, wrestling to free itself to find the light and maybe a new audience.

What art have you made, found, or supported today?