FALL SABBATICAL 2011

Monday began my week-long fall sabbatical for the year.  I try to take an extended time of solitude at Prairie Pond Woods at least twice a year in the spring and fall. I do it for two reasons; one, so that I can de-stress, write, enjoy nature, commune with God and find my heart’s desire again (like Dorothy’s journey to Oz).  The second reason is to encourage others to do the same.  I’m convinced people need, and deep down want, time to be alone, to ask themselves the genuinely important questions and to soak in the inspiration from the wonder and beauty of nature.  Our society just simply doesn’t honor these endeavors.  Not flashy enough!  Too self-indulgent!  Too scary, maybe?  

There are only a handful of people in my circle of friends and acquaintances that I know of who take intentional time away from their lives…not to go on vacation (which is also important)…but to go somewhere lovely (or a hotel if that’s all you got) to focus on their inner life and listen to what God might be quietly saying within the sound of silence. 
 

So, for inspiration, this week I’ll be posting my sabbatical experiences.  I realize most people can’t take an entire week off of work or running a household to do this.  But I’m equally convinced most folks could take a weekend or a day, if we value and plan for it.  At the end of this week, Heart By Nature is facilitating a retreat on how to simplify life, clarify values we hold in our hearts and plan a year (literally on a calendar!) that will yield the most fruit and peace.  I call it a “Personal Phenology,” phenology being the study of what happens, where and when in the natural world.  It is a principle that can be applied to our own goals, rhythms and circumstances.

I hope you will visit here during the week to catch a vision for what one can experience when there is no TV, high-speed internet, phone calls, obligations or people (even the little ones you love so much) talking at you all day. Perhaps sharing thoughts that came while walking The Refresher Course, or insights from a half-hour of listening prayer or photos from the 27-acres here at Prairie Pond Woods will encourage you to approach the new year differently…with more intention and more time spent living the call of God in your life.

Sincerely,
 
Cindy

BREEDING BIRD SURVEY

The survey for the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas officially ended for the summer on August 31 as the last "safe date" (dates which help distinguish between a species that breeds locally or one that is migrating north)for collecting data.  Last night I entered all my data for the 10-square mile radius in and around the town of Lynx and Prairie Pond Woods.  The survey for the year begins on January 1 with the Rock Pigeon and ends with the Great Horned Owl, which actually begins recordable breeding behavior in late December!  Some of the last birds to be seen in the summer tending nests or fledglings are the Northern Cardinal, Carolina Wren and American Goldfinch. 

It is such an honor and so much fun to be able to participate in this 5-year survey.  Data will be collected, reviewed and documented for all 4,437 atlas blocks in Ohio.  The purpose of the atlas is to access changes in breeding distribution, identify and protect important breeding locations and their habitats and collect further data on rare or endangered species.  The survey was last conducted in 1982 with the first atlas publication in 1987.  My block in Lynx had no "owner" back then (someone who commits to survey a block), so there was limited survey information and little for me to compare.  

So far, I've recorded a total of 80 possible, probable or confirmed species breeding in my block. I still have to get out after the Winter Solstice and call in some Horned Owls from the woods!  I'll let you know if I get 81!

NEIGHBOR'S GARDEN (a poem)

I came to pick up the vacation paper
And suddenly, I am on a safari.
Morning breezes usher out the haze,

Open stage for all winged creatures,
Black vulture and hummingbird,
Monarchs with Viceroy twin.
All around me, movement, like random, diving
leaves after an early autumn frost.

Lost among the Black-eyed Susans,
Pearl Crescents rise like a wave as the wind stirs.
A dragonfly charges me, defending new prey.
How odd to see the tables turned on a yellow jacket.
 There are few fragrances this late in summer,
just the heavy smell of heat rising.
Sounds of August music ebb and flow,
With background static of cicadas.

But there is no shortage of color-
Soaring, gliding,
             Fluttering, basking,
                            Launching and landing...

    ...I’d go deaf if I could hear their wings beat.

 Cindy Steffen - August 2009
All photos from Prairie Pond Woods

OCTOBER 22, 2011 RETREAT

Now you know who you are.  We run in to each other and you say, "I really need to make it down to your place for a retreat someday."  I say, "Yes, that would be great," not wanting to put a lot of pressure on you because I know life is hectic and it's hard to get away.  But now, girlfriend, I'm going to have to publicly embarrass you by telling, in front of all these readers, that your last chance of the year is coming up soon! 

This spring Heart By Nature offered women a chance to Explore what the Psalms call their "innermost being."  In summer the theme was Encouragement-ourselves and one another. This Autumn retreat focuses on Empowerment in our everyday lives, as we create a personal plan for the upcoming year, built around:

Our passions
(What do I REALLY want next year?)
Our limitations
(How can I learn to say No or This will have to do?)
Our own rhythms
(School, work, family, holidays?)
Natural rhythms
(Daily, monthly, seasonal, etc?)
Our Spiritual Gifting
(What is God calling me to in 2012?)

Yes, my friend, October is the PERFECT time to leave the routine, change your venue and come to a place where the colorful hills will wrap you in their beauty and give you a gift to take home.  This is the PERFECT time of the year to review last year's successes and not-so-much's, and plan the coming year's days and months in ways that make more sense and create more meaning.  This is the PERFECT time of the year to don that comfy sweater and hang with your girlfriends in the woods...or on the back deck...or inside on the couch...depending on your degree of Wild Woman-ness.  

So, I'm sorry I had to bring this up in front of everyone...but I did it because I care about you.  Call me.

LOVE...cindy
937-532-6688

Find out more

www.heartbynature.com
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Friends enjoying last Autumn's Retreat!

FEELING GRATEFUL

When we bought the cedar house and 27 acres we now call Prairie Pond Woods back in 2006, there was no way of knowing what a gem we were purchasing.  Almost everything except the woods had been mowed down to the ground, so it seemed mostly like pastureland surrounding the house. But looking back, we must have had an inkling that good things would spring from the ground because it was never on our radar screen to buy just fields of fescue.

The Saturday the state botanist and two others from Ohio Wesleyen came to do a survey of the flora, our suspicions were confirmed. I'm not sure what prompted the call asking if they could come down from Columbus, but I'm glad they did.  While it is not going to be designated a national landmark or turned into a state nature preserve any time soon, the land possess some notable features...and more importantly...an abundance of diverse beauty.

I know it may be hard for some to understand how people such as us could be so interested in a plot of land that we would spend 31/2 hours in 90-plus degree weather walking at a snails pace staring at the ground...but it is actually more than an interest...it is a love.  It is the love of ecology...knowing how life fits together and is interdependent. It is the concern for preserving species after the that knowledge has been gathered.  It is the joy and art of developing a "sense of place" and understanding the rhythms of the habitat we share with God's other created things.
 

Over the last 5 years I've learned many things about my little plot of land - from what kind of bedrock is under my feet to what forages in the high canopy of oaks.  I'm learning the dynamics of when the wildflowers bloom and under what conditions. Or when they set seed and how they're dispersed.  I take note each year of the date the Yellow-breasted Chat shows up with its crazy mating call.  I wait patiently over the winter for the magical evenings when the spring peepers at the pond are so deafening, fifteen minutes is about all I can take.

Now I've learned how rare the Tall Larkspur are in Adams County, and so maintaining the little patch on the shady slope they're thriving on is a new priority.  One new discovery was also made on the property, an inconspicuous vine called, Green-Passionflower and another one was correctly identified as Angle-pod, a vine in the Milkweed family.

All in all, 160 species were identified, nine that are on the state Watch List and three that are considered Potentially Threatened.  I'm really grateful to these good folks for taking time out of their weekend to come to Prairie Pond Woods.  I'm also grateful to be able to take care of this land and continue to fall in love with the beauty and joy it brings.