Nature time!

As spring...springs, we are often drawn to spend more time outside in nature.  Especially if the winter has been long and the start of spring was dark and rainy, when those nice days show up we want to get outside and spend time in nature.

Which makes a lot of sense, both with the way the reduced light effects us (even if you don't have a seasonal mood disorder, the lack of sunlight effects everyone's mood) and how we just crave seeing the natural world wake up after the winter months.  Especially as a Pagan, we often have a great love for nature and all it's denizens, so the desire to spend more time outside is one we recognize well.

And while I'm often a big supporter of using modern and digital means to access things our ancestors couldn't, I think there is something more to this desire to be outside than can be satisfied by watching nature documentaries or seeing beautiful pictures.

The great thing is that it doesn't truly matter where you live.  You could live in the middle of the city, and there are still signs of nature to be enjoyed.  Nature has a way of pushing through, and once you start looking for it, there are plants and animals all over!

It may take a bit of a twist of thought to break free from this civilized idea of 'acceptable' nature.  You might not live next to an untouched forest or field of wild flowers, but there is much to be learned and gained by taking the time to notice what is around you.

One thing I have always thought a bit crazy is the sheer number of plants we have decided are weeds.  I think we first started thinking of weeds when we started trying to plant crops, but most of us aren't farmers, so our understanding of weeds comes from the lawn owner perspective.  

Now, I have a lot of thoughts about lawns (cliff notes:  I think they are an absolute waste of space, at least in the traditional sense).  I love that many people have the luxury of being surrounded by small slices of nature (and even though I live in an apartment with no actual lawn myself, there is a big empty field out back that I enjoy).  But I think that we take lawns way too seriously, and that has caused us, as a society, to devalue a great many plants that are native to our areas.

If you start learning about plants at all (and I am a very big beginner in this area, plants really aren't my thing), you will learn that almost every plant has some uses for us as people, but they also all play a role in the natural world.  Some are foods, some are medicines, some are poison (which often helps a plant propagate or wards off animals that would eat too much of it).

We often look to 'pretty' plants and cultivate those in our gardens (or bring them inside in pots), but if you look beyond the obvious colorful flowers, there are a lot of plants that have really interesting features and just spending time looking around your house for plants that you can study can be a wonderful spring activity.

Just like we domesticate plants, we have domesticated animals, but we still have a whole lot of animals (and insects!) outside our door that we can watch and learn about.  Bird watching is an obvious start, and many people love watching the different birds that frequent their area.  I enjoy watching squirrels or rabbits, and have also seen groundhogs and turkeys from my house, so you really never know what you are going to see.

And at first glance, you may not think there is anything interesting to watch around you, but look a little closer and the world is teeming with insects.  I don't think I can go outside and not find ants within a few moments of looking.  

We tend to look down our noses at insects, but many are quite breathtaking once you get over how different they are to us.  Of course you have your butterflies and dragonflies with their beautiful wings, but many beetles have beautiful bodies, and even very common insects like flies can be fascinating when you watch them groom themselves.

Whether you prefer plants, feathered or furred critters or insects, there is a literal whole world of nature out there to be discovered, and even a few minutes spent sitting and watching what is going on right outside your door can be a soothing escape, especially after a long winter!