I'm always on the look out for things on my daily walks. a gatherer of beauty. Though sometimes I regret not getting a photo ( i leave my phone at home usually) so sometimes miss things that are fleeting ( but this is life no?) I Just try to watch nature and see what catches my eye. ( then the next day if there is a pattern on a tree or on the ground I will bring my phone out on the walk to capture a texture in the wild) But most days phone-less and wandering just enjoying beauty. lovely post
I love that you leave your phone at home. I wish I felt safer to do that. But I do like to take photos, too. Love that you remember and go back to take one the next day. Beautiful, Ari. Thank you so so much.
I join the gathering tribe here as well. There isn't a corner of my home, including a few drawers that aren't treasure chests. And as years go by I can still uncover a memory that sat patiently in a bowl or box waiting to tell the story to me over again. My patio garden holds the larger bits and as I stir the soil or move the rocks I remember and find a special kind of peace. Your poem is a beautiful tribute to your walk.
I loved your poem and also the one that Elizabeth shared in the comments. Gathering is so in our nature because we are that same nature. Lovely reminder and thank you!
Reminds me of when I was young and each year we would go to the beach in California for 6 weeks. My father could work at an extension office there. At the end of our vacation I would always bottle up ocean water, sand, seashells, and kelp to take home. A token of what I loved, that I would have a small part of it with me until the next summer.
how wonderful to read another heartfelt essay on the simplest little customs u'vre derived such pleasure from; the poem at the end of ur fine essay was an unexpected treat. I can't decide which literary medium u are more accomplished in...i'd say it was a tie, both rivaling ur deft acumen for the difficult medium of watercolors. bravo, kateri. chuck
Thank you so much, Chuck. I don't feel very accomplished, but I surely love to work at it. I'm so grateful for your careful reading and taking the time to comment and encourage me. Thank you :)
I so enjoyed reading about your precious memories and treasures, found bit by bit as you enjoyed your time in nature. I imagined your fairy house and the making of all you described. I do have a bowl of special treasures and I intend to upload a photo. Hearing about others enjoying such special times is a real joy to me. Thank you dear Kateri for sharing with us.
Oh yes, I am a gatherer too!! I have many large old flower saucers full of treasures and it is hard to get rid of even one treasure, even it gets broken or torn- also old vases of twigs and dried stems of leaves and flowers. I usually keep new finds on my desk next to my laptop. Use many of them over and over for drawing. Love how you wrote about them and absolutely LOVE your poem. Makes me feel that I need a "sit in nature outing".💕 Your post is like a meditation -
Also a gatherer from a family of gatherers. Such a lovely heritage of noticing and delighting in the tiny and easily overlooked. You remind me of the fairy houses I used to make in the garden of the house where I grew up. It was a magical place and ignited a love for nature and tiny things in my heart. I hope I've passed that on to my children and now grandchildren. Now I build cairns and make mandalas. I guess it's an ever evolving love of interacting with the wild world. It enriches my life so much.
I'm always on the look out for things on my daily walks. a gatherer of beauty. Though sometimes I regret not getting a photo ( i leave my phone at home usually) so sometimes miss things that are fleeting ( but this is life no?) I Just try to watch nature and see what catches my eye. ( then the next day if there is a pattern on a tree or on the ground I will bring my phone out on the walk to capture a texture in the wild) But most days phone-less and wandering just enjoying beauty. lovely post
I love that you leave your phone at home. I wish I felt safer to do that. But I do like to take photos, too. Love that you remember and go back to take one the next day. Beautiful, Ari. Thank you so so much.
I join the gathering tribe here as well. There isn't a corner of my home, including a few drawers that aren't treasure chests. And as years go by I can still uncover a memory that sat patiently in a bowl or box waiting to tell the story to me over again. My patio garden holds the larger bits and as I stir the soil or move the rocks I remember and find a special kind of peace. Your poem is a beautiful tribute to your walk.
I imagine your home as one big treasure chest. Bits of wool and silk, spindles and seashells, among all the rest. Thank you so much, Janet.
Katerina, I too am a gatherer of special pieces of nature.
Here is " Gathering" by Nina Bagley that you might e.njoy.
We are the gatherers,
thrones who pick up sticks and stones
and old wasp"s nest fallen by the
door of the barn,
walnuts with holes that look like
eyes of owls,
bits of shellsnot whole but lovely
in their brokeness.
We are the ones who bring home
empty eggs of birds
and place them on a glass shelf
to keep for what? How long?
It matters not. What matters
is the gathering,
the pockets filled with remnants
of a day evaporated, traces of
certain memory, a lingering smell,
a smile that came with the shell
P.S. I have some lovely gatherings, but don't know how to show on substack.
Beautiful, Elizabeth. Thank you so much. And I created a thread for all to share their photos. Did you see it?
I loved your poem and also the one that Elizabeth shared in the comments. Gathering is so in our nature because we are that same nature. Lovely reminder and thank you!
Thank YOU, Nancy. It is in our nature. Why fight it. ♥️
Reminds me of when I was young and each year we would go to the beach in California for 6 weeks. My father could work at an extension office there. At the end of our vacation I would always bottle up ocean water, sand, seashells, and kelp to take home. A token of what I loved, that I would have a small part of it with me until the next summer.
I still bring home sea water and kelp. I have a bottle from the Irish Sea on my kitchen counter :) thanks so much, mom.
Like minds darling! 😘
No, but I will look
how wonderful to read another heartfelt essay on the simplest little customs u'vre derived such pleasure from; the poem at the end of ur fine essay was an unexpected treat. I can't decide which literary medium u are more accomplished in...i'd say it was a tie, both rivaling ur deft acumen for the difficult medium of watercolors. bravo, kateri. chuck
Thank you so much, Chuck. I don't feel very accomplished, but I surely love to work at it. I'm so grateful for your careful reading and taking the time to comment and encourage me. Thank you :)
I so enjoyed reading about your precious memories and treasures, found bit by bit as you enjoyed your time in nature. I imagined your fairy house and the making of all you described. I do have a bowl of special treasures and I intend to upload a photo. Hearing about others enjoying such special times is a real joy to me. Thank you dear Kateri for sharing with us.
I look forward to seeing, Michelle. I think I need to teach my grandgirls how to make fairy houses this year. Thank you so much 😊 ♥️
Oh yes, I am a gatherer too!! I have many large old flower saucers full of treasures and it is hard to get rid of even one treasure, even it gets broken or torn- also old vases of twigs and dried stems of leaves and flowers. I usually keep new finds on my desk next to my laptop. Use many of them over and over for drawing. Love how you wrote about them and absolutely LOVE your poem. Makes me feel that I need a "sit in nature outing".💕 Your post is like a meditation -
Thank you so much, Kathryn. I love that you have your treasures all over too. I think I made it sound like mine are all neatly in bowls… hardly. 😂♥️
Also a gatherer from a family of gatherers. Such a lovely heritage of noticing and delighting in the tiny and easily overlooked. You remind me of the fairy houses I used to make in the garden of the house where I grew up. It was a magical place and ignited a love for nature and tiny things in my heart. I hope I've passed that on to my children and now grandchildren. Now I build cairns and make mandalas. I guess it's an ever evolving love of interacting with the wild world. It enriches my life so much.
Gosh Margi. It all sounds so magical. And you come from a line of gatherers! Just so special. Thank you so much!
Just lovely ❤️