Call & Response With Nature

Hello Reader

You may have notice in the summer I enjoy a different cadence with these inbox offerings--every other week is about what feels right. The energy and pace of summer season can feel big, and fast. So I'm trying to build in slowness, and letting go.

How about you? How do you like to make adjustments in the summer? Below I'll suggest a few ways you can play with the summer rhythm that feels right for you.

Cheers,

Jennifer

​Ordinary Nature​

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Weekly Reflection ☀️
• Weekly Practice ✨
• Little Tender Things 🐸💚
• ​Video Resources! 🎥 ✨

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WEEKLY REFLECTION

Call & Response

Jennifer Ruth Keller

We miss them at first. Then, once seen, they become unmissable, our companions for our brief stay. "Look," my daughter whispers, pointing down to the water's still surface, "right there -- see -- by that grass thing?"

I crouch down, try not to let my larger size on the small footbridge make a loud creak that will scare off any potential new creature friends. A few moments later, having let myself slow down, let my eyes shift into a different, receptive gear, I see the eyes just above the water. "Oooo! I see!" I soft-exclaim, the delight impossible to contain.

We sit on the wood slats of the bridge, let our senses adapt to the marsh, its bursting cattails and tall grasses, the flit and swoop of birds all around, the silent scatter of water bugs across the water.

We've left the fireworks behind for the 4th, and found a campground by a hot springs in eastern Oregon where the spring-fed marsh has us rapt with attention for a different kind of dazzlement: bullfrogs!

For the three days we're there, at dusk and dawn, we slather on mosquito repellant and make our way to the marsh to check up on our newfound friends. Often, we find them in the same place, unmoved. Sometimes, they've been joined by a neighbor, like a gorgeous three-foot-long garter snake who lies in the bog, still, near them.

One larger area of the spring-fed habitat is home to the largest bullfrogs. When they're singing we join them at the shallow pond's edge where I try to match their voice and call to them through the thick cattails. "Uuhrrrrr, Uuhrrrrr, Uuhrrrrr," I bellow from my belly. "Mommmmmm!?!" my daughter near-chastises me, incredulous at what I'm doing while also celebrating it. I think. [Haven't heard a bullfrog in a while?Here you go!]

We call, and they answer. They call, and we do our best to attend to the moment, to the opening beyond us, to the gift of earth that's always right here, now, if we pause and let it in. Bullfrog call, or not! (But the bullfrog call helps.)

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WEEKLY PRACTICE INVITATION

The what: Who could you call to? And who might call to you?

The how: Set aside some time to wander in a place near you. Could be a place you know well, or somewhere new or newish.

Slow into dilated listening.

Slow some more.

Who might you notice is talking in your direction? Maybe singing towards you, or about you? Maybe calling to you to take notice? Or, communicating in a way that invites paying gentle attention?

Let them be heard. No need to "figure out" what they're "saying." Just receive the voice, the sound, the opening.

How might you respond? With your voice, and, in your heart.

Play with the potential back and forth of the call & response.

Remember: It may be subtle. It may not always happen. It may be surprising. Confusing. Delightful. It will be whatever it is. And that is enough for fostering connection.

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LITTLE TENDER THINGS

Hello Lithobate Friend,

we see you there, again,

in the calm warm waters,

looking out, and never up,

awaiting your bug snack,

your insect nibble,

as we forget ourselves

in your existence,

your wet, green,

undeniable aliveness

and jump-ready legs.

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​Video Resourcesd! 🎥✨

Every view (and sharing a video, or this newsletter) contributes to my effort to offer free resources and events because that's one way I develop partnerships and collaborations with regional organizations.

And, every small act of support helps me build towards my dream goal of having a "mobile nature unit" that travels throughout our region to offer threshold, nature-rich experiences for youth and adults.

Thank you!

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