A place for quiet reflection
This is what I call the Fern Room in my garden.
I've written about it before. It's just on the edge of my property and those ferns just grow wild, expanding a little bit each season.
It's a place I can just sit and watch nature.
Our world is hectic, and having somewhere like the Fern Room is important. I seem to use it the most during the height of summer, but I've been out there in all kinds of weather. The shady spot is perfect to collect my thoughts. The giant pine tree keeps me dry when there's a shower.
Just spending 10 minutes out there is enough therapy to last a few days.
I'll sit down in an old lawn chair, put my feet up on another and wait to see amazing things. This spring I sat for a half hour watching the mating ritual of the Red Admiral butterfly. Last week I watched a small rabbit forage until it was alerted to my presence. The rabbit froze as did I. We locked eyes for a Mexican standoff. When I looked away for a second he slipped away into the forest without a sound.
The ferns put on a show too. With the slightest breeze they begin to dance. They move quickly, herky jerky like a silent film from the '20's.
Watching creatures big and small when they don't know you're there is revealing. I've watched a herd of deer searching for food and tiny colorful insects battling each day for life. One of the revelations time in the Fern Room provide is the realization how much time the birds hunt for food on the ground, the place they are most vulnerable.
You might not be lucky enough to live in a forest among the ferns, but any place you can just sit, watch and listen will work. You'll be surprised what you'll see and hear, even if it's only the neighbor lady yelling at her kids.
She doesn't know you're sitting there either.