Walk in Wildlife Wonder

It’s National Wildlife Day – a day full of wonder about the creatures around us! As I continue along the journey of visiting each of the words in Dictionary for a Better World, I am blessed that my day began on the shore of Lake Juliette in middle Georgia. While walking my dogs, I saw a heron flying through the early morning mist, gliding low over the surface of the water, a fish in its grasp.

That sight took me back to the feelings of wonder and awe I felt recently while visiting Alaska and admiring the wildlife there. Bald eagles swooped down to catch fish and soared overhead in abundance as we walked through Ketchikan. Whales put on shows all along the inside passage from Seattle to Juneau, and harbor seals basked on the rocks. Seals napped on icebergs with their young as we watched in wonder, whispering our tamed excitement so that we didn’t scare them away.

I’d purchased a zoom lens just before the trip so that I could capture the memories on camera and look back at them to keep me always, always excited about the next adventure. I’m sharing a flooding of wildlife photos today on the blog – it’s a day of wonder as I honor National Wildlife Day with old memories and look forward to new ones as well! Please share your photos – I love seeing wildlife photos almost as much as I enjoy taking them.

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.