Waggle & Hover To Connection
Hello Reader
Welcome new readers! Ground Notes is a weekly sharing: a little nature reflection, a practice, and updates on free events and other experiences I offer as we explore nature connection & relationship.
This week I’ve gathered a lot of inspiration from bees & blooms. My daughter’s been home sick, and the new Secret Life of Bees series from National Geographic has kept us going. Highly recommend. (The bee show, not the cold!)
Cheers,
Jennifer
Founder, Ordinary Nature
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Weekly Reflection 🐝🌺
- Weekly Practice 🍃✨
- Upcoming Local Events 🌿👟
- Little Tender Things 🐞💚
- Video Resources 🎥 ✨
WEEKLY REFLECTION
Waggle & Hover To Connection
Jennifer Ruth Keller
I can’t place the thrum at first. I’m in my neighbor’s yard while they’re away, checking on their lone hen to make sure she has food and water. Focused on the hen, it takes me a few beats to clue into the sound behind me.
The hen’s laid an egg after a long barren stretch. I take a pic as photographic evidence to send my neighbor, who I know will be delighted. Once I send the excited text update I can turn my ears to the low relentless noise that’s been in the background, and let it arrive to my sensory foreground.
I turn around, towards the roaring hum. A plum tree is abloom, a petal cloud of white with yellow filament accents. The drone draws me to the tree, the source of the noise now obvious. As I get closer, the hover and play of hundreds of bees comes into view, their motion and sound unmistakable. Their movements make the plum tree a pulsing source of life, both visually and actually, as they let their legs get pollen-dipped.
The bee waggle dance is one of those improbable, gorgeous patterns of nature which astounds every time I hear about it: honey bees gyrate in a subtle, controlled-frenzy figure-eight pattern to communicate key pieces of information to other bees about food sources or new nest sites. These sources can be over 150 meters away, and, get this, the style of the waggle dance can change in order to indicate specific information about the distance of the food or shelter source.
I hear a low-grade roar, and see a loose mass of hovering insects. But the bees are moving within a finely wrought orchestration of information and clues, a kind of choreography that blows open what we humans might characterize in the clunky terms of “the individual” and “the group.”
The bees live way beyond, or apart from, those categories. And I’ve been wondering what clues they offer us, through their hover and waggle, through their delicate tenacity and patterns of connected flight.
WEEKLY PRACTICE INVITATION
The what: Hover & Waggle Your Way To Connection
Ready to get a little silly, and loosen your sensory reins?
We often talk about the 5 senses, and a forest-bathing-style walk begins with exploring them in an unhurried way. And also: How about that 6 sense of proprioception (spatial awareness)? What might we enjoy with it?
This weekend, enjoy a brief chunk of time outside where you move your body in space in a way you might not typically let yourself experience.
How might you hover through/with nature?
What might your waggle dance with nature be?
If you moved in a 360° style, how might your body move?
Bonus fun: If you’re with friends or family, experiment with letting movement be your only form of communication!
🌿✨Locals: Upcoming IRL Events!✨🌿
Free Workshop May 1st and 2nd
@ 1:00pm at the HAPO Center
Free Walks: May 3rd and 17th
Sage Bathe!
Sunday, May 3rd @ 10:00am
Amon Creek Natural Preserve
meet up: parking lot behind Claybell Park by soccer fields
Garden Bathe!
Sunday, May 17th @ 5:30pm
WSU Demonstration Garden
Behind Kennewick Library
LITTLE TENDER THINGS
We see you ladybug,
tip-toeing up the branch,
tracing bud curves
to your destination,
quick, and steady.
Enjoy video resources? 🎥✨
Want to support my nature-rich endeavors in the wider world?
Check out my videos on YouTube — Every view contributes to my effort to offer free resources and events because that’s one way I develop partnerships and collaborations with other organizations. Thank you!
