And many thanks to Lynn Mead for sharing her Tree of Life Labyrinth pattern. Super fun to give a whirl! The easy to follow directions can be found on tanglepatterns.com posted 08/14/2021
Today, May 16th, just so happens to be National Love a Tree Day! It’s the official day to celebrate all of life’s joys brought to us by the trees we share this planet with. Whether you love reading in the shade or taking a bite out of a fresh fruit pie, National Love a Tree Day encourages y’all to get outside and enjoy a tree.
A Changing Landscape
We all know many tree species live many many years; some live to be several thousand years old. According to the U.S. Forest Service, about 766 million acres of forest land exists in the United States today, a number that’s held steady since 2012. But the nature of our forests has changed over the last 400 years, due to changes in management practices and demand. Population growth, rural and urban development, along with a variety of land uses (like conversion of forests to agriculture use) resulted in a steady decline of forested acres between 1630 and 1910; a decline from 1,023 million acres to 753 million acres or 46% to 34% of the total land area in the U.S. Since that time until the present, where people choose to live and how the land is used has been constantly changing. While some urban forests increase, other areas see a decline. Tree planting programs improve landscapes but human activities and population growth continue to impact these ecosystems.
We All Benefit from Trees
Trees provide more than just beautiful landscapes and a shady canopy on a sunny day. They play a significant role in reducing erosion and moderating the climate as well as give us oxygen. Large quantities of carbon are stored in their tissues as trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They provide habitat and structure for strong ecosystems.
How to Observe National Love a Tree Day
This is a good day to plant a new tree native to your area, or spend some time enjoying the beauty of the trees, Take time to learn how to care for the trees you have, too, whether you live in the mountains or the desert. Write down all the reasons trees are important to you. If you have a favorite tree, or a tree you’re not familiar with, begin a little research project about that (or those) species, and journal about your findings.
Put down that can of chips or box of square crackers and show your love for one of the most versatile snacks ever …… the Pretzel! Whether you like the snap of crispy twists or prefer them soft and chewy, grab your favorite and join the National Pretzel Day celebration today, April 26th.
Pretzel historians offer a few origin stories, but usually share the most likely and often told legend from the Roman Empire. Apparently in 610 A.D., an Italian monk wanted a way to reward his child students for memorizing their prayers. Instead of baking loaves of morning bread, the Monk twisted thin strips of the dough into symmetrical loops by intertwining or knotting the two ends before folding them back on each other (today’s familiar “pretzel loop”). The shape he made was said to resemble a child with his arms crossed in prayer. The Monk called his invention ‘pretiola’ meaning ‘little rewards’.
From then on, these soft ‘little rewards’ became popular in Austrian bakeries and in all of Germany, and so on throughout the world.
Not being satisfied with baking only soft pretzels, in 1850, Julius Sturgis bought a hard pretzel recipe from a local tramp (wonder why a tramp would have such a recipe? Thoughts?). After baking and baking, and perfecting the recipe, it was clear to Julius the hard pretzel was a success. The pretzel’s popularity quickly spread, inspiring many other bakers in central Pennsylvania to make their own versions of the hard pretzel. But the original ‘Sturgis’ hard pretzel was a keeper. In 1861, the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery, located in Lititz, Pennsylvania in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country, became the first commercial pretzel bakery in America.
Naturally, die-hard fans of the warm/soft pretzel weren’t won over by the overwhelming appeal of the hard/crispy version. With the soft pretzel market still alive and growing, by the 20th century soft pretzels became very popular not only in Philadelphia, but in Chicago and New York as well.
The Pretzel of Today
How many shapes and flavors of pretzels can you think of? Here’s my lists …….
Hard pretzel shapes: traditional loop, thick and thin; stick shapes, both thin and in thick rods; twisted, clockwise and counterclockwise; round rings with and without knots; thick stumpy bite-sized nuggets, filled and unfilled; chip shaped and waffle shaped.
Hard pretzel flavors: salted, cinnamon sugar, peanut butter, peanut butter and jelly, honey mustard, cheese, honey wheat, honey butter, ranch, ranch and jalapeño, garlic, sea salt caramel, sour cream and onion, and buffalo wing.
And for soft pretzels …… it’s all about the dipping sauces and coatings: Of course there’s yellow mustard, garlic mustard, melty cheese, melty beer cheese. But there’s also chocolate dipped, aioli, truffle hot sauce, buffalo ranch, cinnamon sugar, and marinara.
Can you add more?
Pretzel Fun Factz!
Pennsylvania is the center of American pretzel production for both hard and soft pretzels, producing 80% of the nation’s pretzels.
Today, the average Philadelphian consumes about twelve times as many pretzels as the national average.
Philadelphia opened a privately run “Pretzel Museum” in 1993.
The annual United States pretzel industry is worth over $550 million.
The average American consumes about 1.5 pounds of pretzels per year.
How will you celebrate National Pretzel Day 2025? Here’s a few ideas …..
Enjoy a bag of your favorite hard pretzels, and gift one to a friend.
Visit your local bakery or even the mall to sample their selection of warm soft pretzels.
Try a game of “Toss the Ring” with ring-shaped pretzels.
Go on a pretzel scavenger hunt.
Host a pretzel and beer party for your neighborhood.
Bake a batch of soft pretzels for the party and have everyone bring their favorite dipping sauce.
And now ………
Curiously, Flambé has been following my post with fascination. Always hungry, could it be she’s developing pretzel cravings? What baker, in their right mind, would ever scent a batch with eau de fish? If a pretzel maker thought mackerel flavored twists would ever be popular, they might just be crazy (or not?). Becoming more famished by the minute, Kat insisted on explaining her ‘irrational’ excitement in a “Blitz” poem (a style created by Robert Keim.1). She felt this poem style not only suited all the twists and turns found in a properly-constructed pretzel loop, it best expressed the twisting and turning pathway her mind took to explain herself and help us “get it!” What do you think?
1 Shout out to Michele Lee, My Inspired Life blog post dated 04/05/2025, for sharing her amazing Blitz poem and providing the rules to create one too. Thanks Michele!
As always. Thanks for stopping by!
Here are the guidelines for the Blitz poem, created by Robert Keim:
Line 1 should be one short phrase or image (like “build a boat”)
Line 2 should be another short phrase or image using the same first word as the first word in Line 1 (something like “build a house”)
Lines 3 and 4 should be short phrases or images using the last word of Line 2 as their first words (so Line 3 might be “house for sale” and Line 4 might be “house for rent”)
Lines 5 and 6 should be short phrases or images using the last word of Line 4 as their first words, and so on until you’ve made it through 48 lines
Line 49 should be the last word of Line 48
Line 50 should be the last word of Line 47
The title of the poem should be three words long and follow this format: (first word of Line 3) (preposition or conjunction) (first word of line 47)
Many Hearty Thanks, Sharing Creative Ideas, Answering the ‘Kat’ Kwestion
April 1, 2025
Completing my 15th sketchbook, and beginning the next one is always cause for celebration! To do so, Kat and I thought it would be especially fitting to shout-from-the-treetops enthusiastically, THANK YOU! Thank you all, my loyal subscribers, for coming along on my interesting, hopefully educational, sometimes crazy, always curious nature journaling adventure.
My recent webinar class, “Create a Colorful Reptile Eye1,” sponsored by Host Karen Abend (of Sketchbook Revival fame), generated many new subscribers to my web page and blog, “A Curious Nature.” Wow! And Thanks so much. A special thanks to those who attended the live and/or recorded class. I loved seeing so many colorful lizard eyes (a sampling below). They were incredible!
Sharing the Wonder of Nature
With all the past and current activity on my blog, I feel so fortunate and very encouraged to carry on. Even though new postings have been random lately, there’s lots of works-in-progress soon to be shared. Meanwhile, comments including what you like about my posts and what you’d like to see more of, are always appreciated. What inspired you to subscribe to this blog? If it’s just enjoy, that’s perfect! Or maybe you’d like tips to develop a regular or even a daily creative practice, how can I be more encouraging? I’d love to know if you are an active nature journaler or tangler, or express yourself by creating art in other ways, such as through music, poetry, or storytelling. Send me your ideas by commenting on this or any future posts. I’ve created my webpage and blog because of my insatiable curiosity about the natural world. It’s extraordinarily fun to go beyond learning what the names of flowers, animals, rocks, and clouds are. The excitement of wondering and discovering answers for all the why’s, who’s, when’s, and how’s is so rewarding. Sharing is my joy!
Explaining Kat
Thinking new subscribers may be puzzled by my constantly mentioning Flambé or Kat or both, now might be a good time for explanation and background (and perhaps provide a refresher for those who’ve been following along from day 1 of my blog):
In 2014, a young stray calico cat showed up one day on our doorstep when we (Roy and I) lived in Oriental, North Carolina (U.S.A.). This little wild miss seemed to magically appear from our backyard woods, perhaps in search of a meal or a friend. She sat and meowed for a few minutes, but when we opened the door, she ran away. Efforts to get close to her when she returned several times during the week were futile. Then one day she vanished and never returned. Not knowing what may have happened to this pretty kitty, Roy thought a nice remembrance of her visit would be to add a small cat sketch to my next drawing. A dandy idea!“But only one drawing,” I thought? It was at that moment that Flambé appeared on my creative doorstep, and has never left!
Flambé, aka Kat, is always smiling, popping in and out of all my art, regardless if the piece is imaginatively & whimsically tangled or a serious nature study. Along with forming the best part of my signature “chop,” she’s the heroine of some pretty wild and crazy tangled misadventures, sometimes pushing Kat’s 9-lives threshold to satisfy her insatiably curious nature (and appetite). Flambé adores being noticed, whether she hides inside the story, or shows up front and center. She makes everything creative more fun. Flambé may be just “Kat,” but she’s my inspiration for and reminder about the value of komic relief, and makes the perfect konstant kompanion!
Whew! That’s all for now. Hopefully your questions about this blog, inspiration and Kat have been answered. If you’re craving to learn answers to other related topics, let me know. Meanwhile, Flambé and I wish you an exciting and creative remainder of the year ….. have times full of happiness, creativity, and memorable adventures, but most of all laughter and fun!
Hope to hear from you soon, and as always, thanks for stopping by!
Meow!
1Unfortunately, the class or recording are no longer available for viewing. But I may have another live demo class some day in the future. If so, you can be sure the announcement will show up on my blog.
You don’t have to be a cat lover to celebrate National Cat Herders Day. The only requirement is to know someone or even be that someone who’s attempted to accomplish a complex task by controlling the uncontrollable, organizing the disorganized, or bringing to order a disorderly cast of characters, akin to like trying to herd cats*. From parents and teachers to project managers and team leaders, this humorous observance pays tribute to those willingly and persistently taking on the challenge of controlling difficult or chaotic situations. Show the love and appreciation for people in your life, and quite possibly yourself, who take on any impossible or frustrating task with patience and humility.
Zentangle patterns used: Choir, Ease, Windflower, KittyKitty, Fragment oA6, Apichu, Budlite, Cat-kin, CD Joy, Cloudy Day, Raindotty
*The origin of the phrase “like herding cats” likely came from the opening scene of Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979). In this scene, shepherds are discussing sheep and the topic strays to cats: “Can you imagine a herd of cats waiting to be sheared?”
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**A fish manikin is a form carved from wood or foam by taxidermists used to mount a trophy fish. Flambé’s school of striped manikins all looked like trophies to her! If only she could’ve herded her cat kin into an attentive and cohesive group long enough to teach them her sure-fire plan for breaking up that school of fish …….. maybe, just maybe she would’ve had a striped manikin to Mount on the wall of her den!
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***A clowder is a real thing! It’s what “they” call a group of cats. Honest. But then being naturally curious like my sidekick, Flambé, I wanted to know how many cats are needed to make a clowder. Here’s what I learned:
“Three or more cats make up a clowder, which makes sense. After all, three is a clowd—er, crowd. Jokes aside, this is mainly because the word “pair” covers pretty much any group of two, and if a cat is by themselves, then they’re just … a cat.”
But that doesn’t explain how these feline groups are ever formed ……. after all, wouldn’t that be a frustrating endeavor and quite nearly impossible …… exactly like Herding Cats?
I’ll let you be the judge, but please let me know!
Chaos Never Dies Day is an annual holiday observed on November 9th that reminds us that chaos and disorder are natural and inevitable parts of life. The day encourages us to embrace the chaos and find humor, creativity, and resilience in the face of uncertainty and unpredictability. It’s a time to let go of perfectionism, embrace imperfection, and enjoy the ride.
Flowing from Flambé’s depiction of the chaotic world that lives between her pointy ears, emerges 16 simple continuous line shapes. Can you find them all?
(If you’d like a little help finding these shapes, the answers can be found at the end of this post. But only peek after you’ve given the illustration a thorough looking over.)
Of course, Kat has embedded herself within the chaos; her discovery makes for 17 total shapes.
Flambé’s thoughts on Chaos to Creativity OR an attempt to interpret her scratched lines on paper, in the above illustration.
A few of my elementary thoughts about Chaos and Chaos Theory
Now that Flambé has delighted and (most likely) confused you on the Nature of Chaos, allow me to reflect on my first exploration into the fascinatingly mind bending subject of Chaos Theory. Having never given much thought to the Theory, per se, I’ve always pictured “chaos” as something hectic and uncontrollable. A state of unruliness, mayhem, or disarray liken to natural disasters, mob pandemonium, mass shootings. Sound familiar? We’ve all likely been witness to an unfathomable situation and declared our world to be in “complete and utter chaos!” But there’s more, a lot more to Chaos Theory, where it is encountered and how it affects us.
When my reference list of lesser known Annual Days revealed November 9th is celebrated every year as “Chaos Never Dies” day, I was appalled. I mean, really; who wants to live in a world of ever-present and everlasting chaos?
But from the description of this Day, it appeared there was a positive side to chaos, piquing my curiosity. Anything that can make us laugh and inspire creativity has to be awesome! So began my last few weeks of intense study and pouring over countless YouTube videos to learn about Chaos Theory.
The more I read and viewed educational videos proclaiming to explain Chaos Theory in easy-to-understand language, the more confusing it seemed. The language was English, but the concepts seemed abstract to me …….. well, they were just plain chaotic! (This caused me to laugh!). It would be easy to spend a lifetime trying to “get it.” I’ll just have to keep learning!
So far, I learned about many familiar and new terms associated with Chaos Theory. These include the Butterfly Effect (highly central to Chaos Theory) which shows the connection between disorderly and highly organized things, like how the flap of a butterfly’s wings can lead to a string of events that can form a hurricane! It’s complex, but emphasizes (among many things) that we can’t know the consequences of seemingly simple systems due to unpredictable variables. That leads to Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, Feedback Loops, Fractals, Probabilistic and Deterministic modes, etc.
Are you still with me?
In a nutshell, Chaos Theory “provides a scientifically quantifiable but simultaneously poetically suggestive way of looking at how almost everything in life is connected to everything else.”
We live in a “chaotic” world, and how we react and/or adapt to its unpredictability and complexities matters. But as someone (?) once said, “Embracing unpredictability sparks creativity.” What does Chaos spark in you?
The images of all Continuous Line drawings and their order of emergence.
Photo display correction has been made in this second post, which has the identical in text as the first post presented earlier in the morning, please disregard the first post and apologies for any confusion. Barb
September 23 – October 7, 2024 For the last 7 years, I’ve participated in the annual, 2-week long sketching/drawing, painting and mixed media event, Sketchbook Revival, founded and hosted by a talented sketchbook artist, Karen Abend. Every year, Karen brings together a cast of creative artists for a mega on-line teaching marathon. Each day, 2 1-hour recorded sessions are available to hundreds of participants from around the world, providing an opportunity to interactively learn a skill or technique designed to begin or expand on a regular sketchbook practice. These sessions may include book binding, mark-making, collage, creating imaginary characters, urban sketching, composition, landscapes, flowers, mammals and bird painting, people or pet portrait drawing, nature journaling, Zentangle, map making, story telling, textiles, and on and on! Techniques shared by instructors involve a wide-variety materials, like watercolor, gouache, acrylic, markers, pencil and pen, colored pencil, and many forms of mixed-media.
The whole fun event is designed to stretch your creative comfort zone by experimenting with art supplies and new approaches to art making, and encourages play. And as incredible as it sounds, all you need to participate is your time and whatever materials you have on hand. Otherwise, it’s totally free! Wowza!
Not every session needs to be done (and this year there were 30 sessions in 15 days); I usually find time to complete about half of them. But this year I did all but one session (and may even complete the one skipped). From the very diverse cast of artists/instructors, I was able to learn new tips, techniques, approaches, and was invites to try new art supplies that would be useful in my regular sketchbooking and nature journaling practice.
Hopefully you’ll enjoy my 2024 Sketchbook Revival “play!” Not all are great or even good (a few are downright awful!) but it was so much fun! Maybe something from my collection will have you laughing, or maybe even entice you to give Sketchbook Revival 2025 a whirl!
That’s all for Sketchbook Revival 2024. Let me know what you think!
September 23 – October 7, 2024 For the last 7 years, I’ve participated in the annual, 2-week long sketching/drawing, painting and mixed media event, Sketchbook Revival, founded and hosted by a talented sketchbook artist, Karen Abend. Every year, Karen brings together a cast of creative artists for a mega on-line teaching marathon. Each day, 2 1-hour recorded sessions are available to hundreds of participants from around the world, providing an opportunity to interactively learn a skill or technique designed to begin or expand on a regular sketchbook practice. These sessions may include book binding, mark-making, collage, creating imaginary characters, urban sketching, composition, landscapes, flowers, mammals and bird painting, people or pet portrait drawing, nature journaling, Zentangle, map making, story telling, textiles, and on and on! Techniques shared by instructors involve a wide-variety materials, like watercolor, gouache, acrylic, markers, pencil and pen, colored pencil, and many forms of mixed-media.
The whole fun event is designed to stretch your creative comfort zone by experimenting with art supplies and new approaches to art making, and encourages play. And as incredible as it sounds, all you need to participate is your time and whatever materials you have on hand. Otherwise, it’s totally free! Wowza!
Not every session needs to be done (and this year there were 30 sessions in 15 days); I usually find time to complete about half of them. But this year I did all but one session (and may even complete the one skipped). From the very diverse cast of artists/instructors, I was able to learn new tips, techniques, approaches, and was invites to try new art supplies that would be useful in my regular sketchbooking and nature journaling practice.
Hopefully you’ll enjoy my 2024 Sketchbook Revival “play!” Not all are great or even good (a few are downright awful!) but it was so much fun! Maybe something from my collection will have you laughing, or maybe even entice you to give Sketchbook Revival 2025 a whirl!
That’s all for Sketchbook Revival 2024. Let me know what you think!
World Smile Day is an annual celebration of the simple yet powerful act of smiling and spreading joy to others. It was created by commercial artist Harvey Ball in 1999 to honor the iconic smiley face he created in 1963. On this day, people are encouraged to perform acts of kindness and make others smile, both in person and through social media. World Smile Day is celebrated on the first Friday in October.
Unbeknownst to me …… until right now! Hitting me like a ton of rocks, I just learned that every second Sunday in September each year marks a worldwide celebration known as
International Rock Flipping Day
Today is a day to encourage people to explore and learn about the natural world by flipping over rocks to see what creatures and other organisms live underneath them. Participants share their findings and observations with others to promote curiosity and appreciation for the environment.
If no one was at home, tell me about your flipped rock(s)!
Bring out your Inner Child!
I don’t care what town you’re born in, what city, what country. If you’re a child, you are curious about your environment. You’re overturning rocks. You’re plucking leaves off of trees and petals off of flowers, looking inside, and you’re doing things that create disorder in the lives of the adults around you. – Neil deGrasse Tyson
A few more …..
As with other phases of nature, I have probably loved the rocks more than I have studied them. – John Burroughs
If it weren’t for the rocks in its bed, the stream would have no song. – Carl Perkins
The problem is not scientifically illiterate kids; it is scientifically illiterate adults. Kids are born curious about the natural world. They are always turning over rocks, jumping with two feet into mud puddles and playing with the tablecloth and fine china. – Neil deGrasse Tyson
a curious nature 