This post reminds of what I find so fascinating here- that its not just me that appreciates and understands keri's perspective on things, I read everyones comments and imagine all different people with all different lives, all lying in their gardens or hidden in their dens, even if it is in their minds! I feel like I've been let into a secret club, its a very nice feeling.

I was feeling bit lost a few weeks ago, so I went to my favourite trees and they spoke to me- only here do I feel comfy saying that. They really did, and I've felt so calm ever since. But I do believe you have to learn how to listen too. But I think everyone here seems to know how to listen.

Thanks Keri

I love making forts, or dens as we call them, having 3 small children now is all the excuse I need, if we want to build one in the sitting room, or even better the garden, we just get a pile of blankets, rugs, clothes horses and chairs and go do it!!!

found little baby catkins out on a tree in the dune conservation zone this morning…i wish people wouldn't walk over the zone though :-(

http://feliciasullivan.com/?p=576

I think this is in line with journal wrecking/living out loud…i'm going to do it (as well as find some trees, my coastal town doesn't seem to have many).

Mmm...I love this entry.

unrelated to this post but noticing the layout of the text on your page/s. is it meant to all be on the left side? is the banner meant to go along the entire top of the page? i found that cranking my text size up to largest seems to help. what is your text size, etc. set at? or what screen settings would you recommend we view your site in? just wondering. it does look good with the text large like this. i remember natalie goldberg saying something about the size of paper (or screen) you're writing on affecting what/how you write. anyway, have a good one!

heard the trees today.

After a little gardening and a little reading while sitting in the sun, I took my first nap of the year on the porch swing today.... It's a celebration of sorts.

Just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your perspective on things keri. Thanks for sharing!

Beautiful writing Keri!
Spring is a start of an new, it always will change us, even if we would not want to...
That is the course of life the divine energy which surrounds us.

Here is my nature related blog is you want to take a peek:

http://www.sepia-art-studio.typepad.com/naturalist

very very nice information thanks..
realy nice blog.i will come every time here.thankss..
mr koyicu...

This is wonderful! Thank you.

this post is so refreshing - also need that purge and cleansing - still quite cool in northern VT - but its coming... - about the names - there are so many - in different languages, qualities, aspects, senses - I am thinking of "Smila's Sense of Snow" and all the different names for snow in northern climates - so many songs to celebrate the energetic extensions of ourselves spinning out into ever expanding circles of love.

so enjoy you and your work

eb.

true, true, true.
I have been cleaning out closets, and drawers, little by little, for a week...an urge I just could not suppress any longer in spite of having more pressing things to do. Each spring, as soon as the ground is dry enough and not too cold. I lay down on it. I cannot want to feel the earth anchored beneath my body, and look up at the heavens... getting a dog three years ago helped me to reconnect with nature. I had forgotten its therapeutic value.

I was lucky enough to have a stepfather who rescued me and my sister from a situation. I was a shy, frightened child and he was a quiet, hard-working man. He taught me all the important lessons of life. And he taught me the names of the trees. By age 10 I could identify trees by their bark, not just leaves. I went on to teach myself the names of the birds, plants, and stars. I was happiest when I was outside in the treehouse he built me. I feel sorry for my great-nieces and nephews whose play-world is confined to television, computers, Disney Princess dolls, and noisy plastic trucks.

hi all,
i too would agree that naming is not necessary, (i am referring to naming in a scientific sense). i was using that example as a way of demonstrating that children have more of a relationship and dialogue with brands these days than the nature in their own backyard.

i like to give the trees my own names. (myrtle, jim, thaddeus).

nice post. i think i agree with the commenter who mentioned that naming might not be necessary. the world has a way of communicating with us, nature especially. maybe names are unimportant. it's the ultimate anti branding....the problem is remembering to get outside, and especially to get our children outside. unfortunately, we have taken the ability to roam outdoors by themselves away from our children because of irrational fears the media has fed us. (do you know about 100 children are actually abducted each year in the whole country and that most of those abductions are by family members or people the child knows??? the media would have us believe leaving a child alone is dangerous...and they've made parents afraid)
nature is part of us and we are part of nature. we need nature. when you feel centered and alive after being outdoors you are tapping into the feelings of our ancestors....i'm so afraid we are stealing this from ourselves and our children with all our indoor, technological life....no wonder so many people seem ill or crazy, huh? sorry to go on--your post made me thoughtful ;-)

Amazazazazazing post!!! :)

Ah, yes, there is nothing like those first feelings of Spring in the air! It gives me such a renewed outlook on life and fills me with energy! I really enjoy your blog... very inspiring!

yep

Keri-
I am inspired my yours words each time I read your blog. Spring shows me that life is such a tangible force. Thank you for putting this so beautifully into words.

I fell asleep in my back garden, on the ground, in an almost fetal position with a cat curled up close to my heart. Good thing no neighbors could see into my garden--they may have thought I was dead. Sleeping on the ground is so soothing for me. the breeze /sun/earth induces sleep like nothing else.

thank you for sharing your thoughts! I agree with most everything except that i would say it is not the animal in me but my spirit (or soul). It is the soul that years for spring, and new life, that gets tired of the winter and yearns for green grass and summer breezes. that lifts at the sound of the leaves when rustling in the wind. My soul years to lie in the grass and smell the dirt again!

hi. i just wanted to say.. i'm going through a tough time (break-up with the person i thought would be my life partner) and i stumbled on your blog and i love it. thank you for all the hope and inspiration...

I'm just whispering yes, yes, yes to myself while reading this. You take the words out of my mouth.

I think I'll make a fort tomorrow in my bedroom from pillows and sheets and fluffy doonas. And perhaps I'll never take it down and always have a cosy place to visit. Ahh, that sounds like a plan...

you have spring in your heart... always refreshes me to read your blog. Thank you!

ahhhh...yes! I have been LOVING spring here in Seattle and have that same feeling. The air at our local pond smelled sweet this morning like a child's breath. It's sublime, isn't it?

As for naming things, I have never really understood it. I CAN name many plants because I've gardened for so long but honestly, I would rather know what they call themselves. I don't really like the naming much. The members of the Plant, Animal and Mineral kingdoms (and queendoms) are old friends to me, not something to look up in the a book with a long, Latin name. It's the whisper of the scent dancing on the breeze that matters. At least to me.

Thank you for writing this. I'm so happy that you are enjoying our old friend, Spring. :-)

I was so busy pull weeds from the new spurts of grass, that I nearly missed the bloom of our first rose. There is something magical about the birth of spring.

A clean, cleanse or change is as good as a holiday

what a wonderful idea, so nostalgic. i would always build huge forts in my back yard as a kid. i would set it up like a room and hide things in it. :)

a very beautiful post today. thank you. here, the windows are all open finally, and the birds are singing, and in the far distance I can see the beginnings of my little ones tree fort. I do believe that we all need one, regardless of our age. Cheers to tree forts!

Cats just love blanket forts!

I heard the trees today. They are doing a little springtime sigh and a little springtime dance and that springtime struggle to push push PushPushpushpushpush those buds out. They are holding very still and concentrating.

It's nighttime on my side of the world. It has been a beautiful Spring day. Spring gives me so much energy!

Building a fort...sounds like a plan to me. I will built one now and read some more in a book I read so much about on your blog: If you want to write by Brenda Ueland :)

Have a wonderful Spring afternoon!

Sophie