Our very own bioblitz!
Anna and I were just talking about seeing. It's easy, we both agreed, not to see, to be in a state of acting upon the world, not open to what's really there.
Is that too esoteric?
Let's just say that it's exciting when you find - wherever you are, whatever you are doing - that there is more than what, at least at first, meets the eye.
I believe you need to walk for at least 15 minutes before that can happen: before you begin to see what's there. You need to stretch out a bit, let things go, relax, breathe deeply and then, magically, you begin to see what was there all along.
Birds, dragonflies, beetles, ferns, mosses, lichens, bark, Lepidoptera...
Then again iNaturalist is a kind of short-cut to greater seeing and seeing that we are in the business of seeing everything we can within the Preserve that we call home (Center Hill Preserve) we are really excited about having others help us see what's here.
So we're leaping in to our first bioblitz, taking just two weeks to prepare.
What are you doing October 24?
How about a nice walk in the woods (and on the beach), with friends, family, all ages, and your smartphone.
Download the iNaturalist App, stop by the headquarters building for a little instruction, and start collecting!
It's that easy.
There'll be coffee and cookies, prizes for the top collectors, and the satisfaction of knowing that you are adding to our knowledge of this corner of this amazing ecoregion - the Massachusetts Coastal Pine Barrens.
See for yourself!
