Interactive Nature Arts Thrive

The theme of "the return" is moving through these days, and it is a return that both refreshes and renews. When I return to any beloved place I am not the same person who first encountered the place. In the reciprocal dance of place shaping people and people shaping place, I continue to marvel at the pull certain places exert on me. On Schoodic Peninsula at Acadia National Park 30 people co-created "Rachel Carson's Sense of Wonder" this year. And Alley Pond, Center Street School and the glorious Ship's Company Theatre in Parrsborro, Nova Scotia also hosted performances. These experiences deepened my belief that when we participate with nature as a way of deepening our relationship to her, we thrive. For my 60th birthday, I returned to Sliver Bay on Lake George, New York and was filled with gratitude for the gifts it continues to give.

Speaking of thriving, Haiku Hut is now in in its 2nd year and the neighborhood poems posted on its lovely tree trunk bring a sense of community to Sea Cliff.

And my work in"presentation skills" with the students in The Nature Conservancy Program enriches my life. In this time of uncertainty and change in the outer world, the daily celebration of appreciating the extra-ordinary beauty around and within gives me hope and sustains my spirit.