Welcome to the 13th issue of The Magic Heron Newsletter, a fortnightly newsletter with a focus on journaling, writing, and learning nature’s wisdom through midlife. Thanks for being here. I appreciate you.

Texas, August 1, 2021

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Hi there!

Well, I’m back in Texas a few weeks now and as soon as I got home I decided to spring clean, after being gone for over a year. I mean, washing walls, baseboards, everything. House is smelling clean and nice and I’m working my body with constant movement. 

I enjoyed the drive back home. Watching the scenery change over 1500 miles was interesting. The trip started out with 100 foot tall pine trees on the coast and then through the Smokey Mountains where we stopped for a few days at Knoxville and enjoyed Panther Creek State Park, Douglas Lake, and the French Broad River. 

Then we traveled 2 days back to Texas, stopping at Little Rock for 1 night along the way. All along the way, the trees became shorter with more space between until we hit Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle with open prairie and sky.

This week I’m reacquainting myself with my dog, Oggie, who had to do a double take when he saw me get out of the car, to make sure he was really seeing me. He was so precious when I came into the house, he was just so happy to see me he got the zoomies all over the living room. 

On the ride home, I saw vultures each day along the way. Turkey vultures and then in Knoxville, I saw black vultures for the first time. They soared high above on the currents and were a constant reminder for me of the change I was going through leaving my son and going home to my daughter and back to my life there. So, this week’s spirit animal is the Vulture.

This week’s newsletter Spirit Animal

Vulture Symbolism and Meanings:

My whole life on the prairie, I’ve always enjoyed watching the vultures catch a current above me and soar with it up higher and higher. The vulture is a master navigator of the winds, reminding us to ‘go back to the drawing board’ before acting too hastily. To think things through and be sure how we feel before we go through with our plans. 

This requires patience with ourselves, and if you watch vultures, they display this patience while coasting the air currents waiting for the perfect time to descend.

Symbolism:

• Loyal
• Serious
• Patience
• Tolerance
• Renewal
• Equalizing
• Cleanliness
• Perceptive
• Protection
• Impervious
• Unconventional
• Resourcefulness

By watching vulture, we can learn the meaning of being conscious and wise about the resources we have available around us. Instead of working hard, we can open to the opportunities that present themselves to us and like the vulture who does not hunt, but seizes the resources available, we can too.

Vulture is about higher awareness and calls for flexibility and perception. Vultures have highly advanced sight and smell.

They also symbolize renewal. As they consume death, they transform that death to life. The Mayans viewed vultures as fearless of death—they literally ate death for breakfast! 

So, look to vulture when you are facing a ‘death’ of some aspect in your life, knowing that you are capable of transforming it into new life.

“Death on one level means life on another.” –Avia

Recently Published . . .

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Here are a few recently published items that may be of interest to you . . .

1. Writer–An Epic Creature Fueled By Coffee: A Writer’s Notebook | college lined pages | 120 pages

2. Plot Happens: A Writer’s Notebook | college lined pages |120 pages

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Get Your Gardening On With the 2021 Superfood Garden Summit . . .

1. You should still be able to access the encore 

Grow Your Own Vegetables–The 2021 Superfood Garden Summit is Open!!!

2. Free Super Food eGuide

3. Holistic Cancer Care Course

Blog Posts . . .

Here are my latest blog posts:

1. Journal Entry 1: What I’ve noticed around town today

2. My Coffee, Books and Friends Journal

Interesting links . . .

Here are some interesting links I came across on my ventures through Internet Land this week that I thought you might enjoy:

1. How to Make Homemade Ice Cream with a Hand Mixer

2. I actually like watching the squirrels at the feeder, but I understand they can also be a pest. If you need to discourage squirrels from your feeders, try this:

How To Use HOT Pepper Birdseed to Keep Squirrels Away!

3. Nifty Succulent Planter In 30 Minutes!

4. How To Season A Cast-Iron Skillet

5. Years ago I found the FlyLady system for cleaning house on a schedule based on zones. I’m going back to this system to make my housecleaning chores easier.

FlyLady

Different Ways to Journal . . .

1. How to Make Cool Collaged Index Cards for Junk Journals! Fun & Easy Tutorial! The Paper Outpost! 🙂

2. How to Start a Travel Journal: 8 Rules for the Road

3. What is a Junk Journal? Junk Journaling 101 for Beginners

Articles on Journaling . . .

1. 5 Unusual Tactics That Have Really Improved My Writing

2. Journaling to Tap Into Your Inner Wisdom

3. Writing to Find Your Passions

Random Nature Fact . . .

Chipmunks and other small rodents have fast reaction time because they process light faster. They see the world in slow motion!

Nature Journal videos . . .

1. Drawing Butterflies and Rare Birds

Nature Journal Prompt . . .

This week’s nature journal prompt is the Vulture. Here are some fun facts!

Vulture facts:

Family: Cathartidae — a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion

Lifespan: 20-30 years

Scientific name: Cathartes aura

Weight: up to 25lbs (Andean condor)

Wingspan: 51in to 72in 

Habitat: deserts, plains, shrublands, wide-open areas

What it eats: they are scavengers and eat carrion and follow dying animals, patiently waiting for them to die. The only exception is the Palm-Nut Vultures which feed on the fruit of the oil palm.

What eats it: few natural predators. Young chicks are vulnerable to eagles and big cats. Eggs are eaten by small mammals.

Did you know? 

New World vultures lack the throat structure (called a syrinx) that songbirds have. They do hiss and grunt, but can’t make the complex sounds and calls of other birds. This also limits their communication with each other as well.

Also, vultures have specialized enzymes in their stomachs that neutralize the dangerous microbes that pose a danger to other animals. They clean up rotting carcasses from the environment that have been left behind by predators.

What I’m watching . . .

1. Currently free on YouTube

AUSTRALIA (2008) | Full Movie Trailer | Full HD | 1080p

2. Air Force One (1997) – trailer

What I’m reading . . .

I’ve put reading on hold the last few weeks as I settle back into a new routine . . . 

1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I read this book last summer and fell in love with the imagery. I am rereading parts of it now because the author describes the area I’m in with such vivid descriptions, it pulls you right into the landscape. And I love the main character, I really resonate with her.

2. The Secret World of Weather—How to read signs in every cloud, breeze, hill, street, plant, animal and dewdrop by Tristan Gooley

Quote I’m pondering . . .

“Fall in love with the masterpiece, and also the paint on the floor.”

–Morgan Harper Nichols

Questions I’m considering journaling on . . .

I’ve been going through a “death” of one aspect of my life as I return home. How will my life be renewed through this? 

Journal Prompt . . . 

What events, small or big, brought about a death and then renewal in your life? What was the outcome?

Happy Journaling!

. . . Shanna

P.S. Is there something you like or would rather see in the newsletter? Hit reply and let me know!

I’ll be back on August 15th.

P.P.S. If you like this newsletter and want to support it, buy a book or notebook. Or forward this newsletter to a friend with an invitation to subscribe, right here.

Links

Shanna Lea Author website
Books on Amazon
Magic Heron Creations Notebooks on Amazon
Magic Heron Creations Etsy Shop

. . . Shanna Lea Author

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