In my last post, I suggested that many of us might need a “nature refresher”–or perhaps in better terms, a “creation catch-up.”  Here’s an inventory you might go over to check your current natural awareness and appreciation:

1.      Can you tell a cirrus cloud from a cumulus cloud?
2.      Can you identify the common trees by their shapes alone?
3.      Do you note the first migrating birds you see in the spring or fall?
4.      Do you note the first buds of spring?
5.      Do you know why the days get longer as summer approaches?
6.      Would you rather walk through an autumn landscape than drive
         through it?
7.      Do you occasionally drive out or your way merely for a glimpse of
         natural beauty?
8.      Have you learned to smell rain in the air?
9.      Could you explain to a child why the morning fog rises over a lake
         in the fall?
10.     Do you ever take time to explain natural phenomena to (your) children?
11.     Does a visit to a spot of natural beauty lift your spirit?
12.     Are you bothered by the destruction of natural areas for commercial
          development?
13.     Do you have a craving for a nature “fix” after being cooped up
          in the city?
14.     Do you ever tune the TV deliberately to a nature program-then watch
          it for its duration?
15.     Can you name and recognize the common wild flowers in your region?
16.     Can you name and recognize the common trees in your region?
17.     Can you name and recognize the common backyard birds
          in your region?
18.     Can you name and recognize most common birds by their song or call?
19.     Can you name and recognize the common wild mammals
          in your region?
20.     Do you recall having seen a hawk during the last week?
21.     Can you recognize poison ivy, poison oak or other potentially
          “mean” plants?
22.     Do you recognize the habitat of potentially harmful animals?
23.     Do you own and use a nature guide?
24.     Do you ever have a desire to turn a rock or log to see what’s under it?
25.     Do you own (or desire to own) a pair of hiking shoes?
26.     If you had a choice, would you live in a rural area?
27.     Can you predict the likelihood of a beautiful sunset by examining the
          sky an hour before the sun sets?
28.     Do you know why blue jays chase crows-and crows chase owls?
29.     Would you know how to obtain food and water if you were lost in the
          wilderness for a week?
30.     Are you bothered by road-kill?

If your “no” answers outnumber your “yes” answers, you probably need a nature tune-up. 

See you outdoors!

Dean

If it were not for the outside world, we should have no inside world to understand things by. Least of all could we understand God
without these millions of sights and sounds and scents and motions?
weaving their endless harmonies. They come out of His heart to
let?us know a little of what is in it.      -George MacDonald