We had a terrific windstorm last Friday night which is why there were so many fires here in California. I stood outside under the moon in the warm wind and just soaking it all in. I invited my family to join me and several came out and enjoyed the time just listening to the trees blowing and the leaves as they skittered across the deck. The wind chime was really serenading us and reminding us that the wind has a whole rhythm to itself. Wind music.
All that wind left our yards littered with leaves, small twigs, big branches, seeds, cones, and needles. The above photo shows just a snapshot of how many seeds came down out of the tulip tree. If you click on the photo you will see how the tree disburses its seeds with the little "helicopter style" winged seeds.
I really should have the boys complete the one small square activity on our front grass right now with all the interesting things to be found. If you look carefully you will even see an acorn that some bird had stored somewhere and it fell out of its hiding spot during the storm. There are no oak trees anywhere near this grass so some creature had to bring it here...probably a woodpecker or a Scrub jay. The boys and I had a discussion about how the various trees in our area disperse their seeds.
You can also see the large cone from the magnolia that has already lost all of its beautiful red seeds. There are probably over a hundred of these cones in our front yard right now.
This is a perfect example of how when you examine something up close it is truly amazing. Look at the texture and the pattern! The magnolia tree is always giving us something to look at: beautiful green, glossy leaves, huge fragrant flowers, cones, red seeds. The bees love this tree when it is in bloom.
I could not help but try to capture a few of the red seeds that are left after the storm. I love the reds of the autumn and this one is a bright, cheery red.
This was a very unplanned nature study but very rewarding. We have not had any "weather" at all here except the wind. There hasn't been a cloud in the sky to look at or an precipitation except for maybe a bit of dew a few mornings. We are experiencing unusually warm weather in the 70's right now and very dry.
The kids just watched the video and now they have run outside to see what kinds of seeds they can find! We're going to forgo our planned weather project and use this for science today!! Can't beat *real* interest with 'stuff mom makes us do' ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link and the inspiration :D
I have my mother's very old copy of The Handbook of Nature Study, probably almost a first edition.
ReplyDeleteI am the product of that way of life-- raising a child with an awareness of and immersion in nature.
This morning, as I walked the dogs, I had the joy of becoming part of whirling samaras from red maples. I say joy as it brought back my childhood fascination with nature and best of all it took my mind off the 30 degree wind chill factor! January weather in November.... in the south! I love that your post reminded me of this mornings joy!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! We have a magnolia tree in our front yard and have NEVER noticed the red seeds. We went outside to look and found just a few left, but were so excited. It was actually the two year old that spotted the few red seeds clinging to a low-hanging pod deep in the tree.
ReplyDeleteThis morning I was looking for something "mechanical" for this week's Unplug Your Kid challenge and I thought of seed dispersal. Alex & I just watched the video - it is fascinating! Alex is sick or we'd head outside on a seed hunt. I might just look around our backyard later. Anyway, it is fascinating how God created so many neat ways to disperse seeds... and that MAN is studying nature to find better ways to do things, like fly!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this video! We are homeschooling and today did seed dispersal. Just the right thing to watch.
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