Finding Beauty Amidst Concrete- Part 2: Exploring Urban Nature -

Finding Beauty Amidst Concrete

Part 2: Exploring Urban Nature

"What daily and hourly thanks and praise, then, do we owe to the Maker and designer of the beauty, glory, and fitness above our heads and about our feet and surrounding us on every side! From the flower in the crannied wall to the glorious firmament on high, all the things of Nature proclaim without ceasing, 'Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty.'" (Vol 4)

~Charlotte Mason

For those of us in the city, it may take a bit more intentionality to find beauty amidst concrete. Yet, once we change our mindset and train our eyes to find the beauty, all of a sudden, we find it everywhere and anywhere, as I described in Part 1 of this two- part series.

When I first started bird watching, all I could really identify were cardinals, blue jays and pigeons, which was a bit frustrating for me since I really wanted to identify all the other birds I saw on a daily. I bought a simple bird book titled "Beginner's Guide to Birds: Eastern Region" with a color code that helped me to identify them easily and quickly.

As a result, I’d look up in the sky and see Red Tail Hawks almost daily when before I hadn’t even noticed them. Maybe I thought they were pigeons, like many city folk who barely look up, hurrying off to their next destination. There are times now that I can just look outside my car window and see a hawk resting on the ground or on a lamp post somewhere. From then on, I started to google bird calls and before I knew it, I was able to identify over 12 birds in my neighborhood as well as some of their calls. It’s amazing how much you see when your eyes, and even ears, are trained to look for them.

Over the years, my daughter has also learned to recognize multiple city birds and even helped me create an Urban Bird Study Guide with her artwork.

Every family has different ways to explore nature, especially in the city. Here are a few suggestions on exploring urban nature that have worked for us.

Explore Your Own Neighborhood

Even among brick buildings, there’s nature, from flowers growing out of the ground to trees planted in the sidewalk by the NYC Parks Dept. It’s amazing to look up and see robins in their nests where once it was just a tree; or to identify the difference between a willow and ginko tree because you have trained your eyes to make mental images of the shape, color and any other feature of those particular leaves. Then those features come to life even more with the autumn color show or the spring floral spectacular.

Simple walks around your neighborhood are transformed into amazing discoveries! Like the time we came across wildflowers literally growing out of concrete! Or the beauty of dandelions where once I saw weeds.

There is always beauty of any sort to discover and observe with trained eyes.

Find Parks & Community Gardens

It’s really amazing how much discovery can happen in an ordinary park…when you’ve trained yourself to be on the lookout. Insects, birds, worms, lizards, rocks, etc… are simple treasures that provide learning opportunities.

Many cities also have community gardens that often welcome the help of others, especially from children. We discovered our community garden, Rivers Run, recently and the volunteer staff were excited to have our homeschooling group become part of their community. They were wonderful with the kids!

Nature Study in Your Home

Who ever said nature study can’t also happen in the comfort of your own home, including an apartment? We created a garden in our terrace of flowers and herbs. The same can be done inside a home.

In addition, we’ve ordered Painted Lady butterflies twice and got to observe their entire metamorphosis. We released the first batch at Central Park and the second one in our community garden. We’ve also released ladybugs in our community garden, which was personally therapeutic because that day in particular was a rough one for me. Releasing them in such beauty filledmy troubled heart with peace and I felt God’s presence in the garden. I left Rivers Run Community Garden a refreshed person that day.

This upcoming year, we plan to order praying mantises as well as milkweed plants to attract monarchs to our terrace (a great suggestion from another homeschooling mama).

We also created a nature area in our classroom where we get to showcase all of my daughter's beautiful nature finds.

Travel to Zoos & Botanical Gardens

Whether they’re near or far, zoos and botanical gardens are gold mines waiting to be discovered. Our family is extremely blessed because living in the Bronx means we’re just minutes away from the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo (Wildlife Conservation Society), which is one of the largest zoos in the United States. They have amazing educational programs you can join or you can explore on your own. Regardless, they are so worth the trip!

Join Nature Groups or Begin Your Own

There are many preserves, big and small, that can be explored as well. There may be nature groups already in place or you may have to begin your own. These nature centers are often very helpful in setting up educational classes. That’s what they are there for. All you have to do is set up a class and publicize to get participants, and the experts take care of the rest. We’ve enjoyed and learned so much in the Natural Classroom at Orchard Beach led by NYC Rangers. I think the following pictures speak for themselves.

(Lord-willing, we will eventually create a nature group using Miss Mason’s principles on nature study. It'll take some time but we're up for the challenge.)

The joy of hands-on learning…and a lot of mud!

I have to share a testimony with the following picture. During one of our nature classes, Izzy and her friend found fishing line on the rocks. They had learned from the ranger how dangerous fishing line was for wildlife so they immediately moved into action and used their resources to cut it. It took them over 10 minutes but they didn't stop until they knew the animals were safe. It was a pretty amazing moment to see the next generation protect wildlife.

Recently, a fellow homeschooling mom who lives in my building saw this beautiful Red-tailed Hawk outside on her terrace and shared this picture with me. A perfect example of finding beauty amidst concrete:

So this one is a little sad but my daughter and I found this leaf bug on the ground outside our garage facility. Although it was dead, I share it here because if I hadn’t been training my eyes to see God’s beauty everywhere, I could have easily mistaken it for a fallen leaf. Instead, I did a double-take and noticed that the shape looked different from your average leaf. We were able to take it upstairs to observe this fascinating insect. And guess what? A week later, I found another one dead on the ground, which made me think of how many times I walked by a leaf bug and thought nothing of it. My hope is to now see a live leaf bug. LOL