Issue #42 The Magic Heron Newsletter – What creature teaches us about community and rebuilding?

Welcome to the 42nd issue of The Magic Heron Newsletter, a fortnightly newsletter with a focus on journaling, writing, and learning nature’s wisdom through midlife. 

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Texas, September 25, 2022

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Hi there !

Summer weather is still hanging on and I’m loving it. My daughter is ready for the cool weather. It’s been in the 90s and should drop in to the 80s this next week. 

I’m working on a new recipe book. And just staying busy with the writing and working with clients. Not much has happened this week and I’ve been glad for the straight run of just work, sleep, eat.

I have also been enjoying time with a few online communities for nature journaling and creating printables. We are finishing up a challenge for creating printables and then I signed up for a new challenge in October for marketing on social media. The way online businesses are run is always evolving and I’m enjoying learning new things. 

Then in November, will be NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month. Although you can write anything you want, it doesn’t have to be a novel or even fiction. The signup tab is in the upper right-hand corner of the website. My daughter and I will be there and hope to see you too!

I have noticed the red ants returning to my front yard this week and glad to have them. I know when they are around, I don’t have a problem with fleas, because they eat the flea larva. Yay!

So, this week’s Newsletter Spirit Animal is the Ant.

This week’s Newsletter Spirit Animal

Ant Symbolism and Meanings:

Whenever things get unstable in life, I turn to nature to show me what to do about my situation. One thing I will do is sit on or close to the ground and just observe what is going on beneath my feet. 

Ants.

After several years of living here, I finally have red ants and the little sugar ants in the yard. I like ants. They have been beneficial to my yard in a previous residence by eating the flea larvae and as long as the ex didn’t spray them with poison, we didn’t have a flea problem with the dogs. 

Here at this place, they have settled back in the front yard and I realize that the slight flea problem we had a few months ago did indeed disappear. 

Ants are all about teamwork, rebuilding, and community.

Ant Symbolism and Meanings:

• work
• industry
• defense
• progress
• influence
• protection
• teamwork
• community
• opportunity
• confidence
• communication
• resourcefulness

Ant teaches that we have power—whether personal power (they can lift 50 times their own body weight!) or the power of numbers (they can rebuild their empires overnight).

If you are having a rough go in life, sometimes turning to a community to re-create yourself and re-construct your life is the support you need to rebuild your life. I am finding more communities I enjoy being a part of such as nature journaling and with my business. 

Don’t be fooled by ant’s small size. They are tremendous in strength, highly resourceful, and unified in their community. Sometimes, it’s good timing for our own life as well!

–

Recently Published . . .

New in the Etsy Shop!

1. Fall Bucket List Printable, Fall Things, Autumn Bucket List, Fall To Do List, Fun Ideas for Families, Kids Activities, Fall Checklist

2. Fall Bookmarks, Fall Bookmarks Set Printable, Autumn Bookmark Set, Autumn Bookish Gifts, Autumn Book, Pumpkin Bookmark, Raven Crow Set 5

–

New Books!

1. After several editing setbacks, it’s finally published! Too tired or busy to cook? Don’t want to (or can’t) eat out? Don’t want to do a big cleanup? 2-Ingredient recipes!

2-Ingredient Cookbook . . . for Busy People.

2. Halloween Coloring Planner & Journal: Coloring Pages, Planner Pages for Recipes, Weekly Menu, Decorations, Shopping, Trick or Treat, Costumes, Activities, Crafts & More!

Write Your Memoir with a Community of Other Memoir Writers . . .

Write Your Memoir with a Group – Get back to writing your memoir with a community. 

My dear friend and colleague, Denis Ledoux, is offering The Inspired Memoir Writer program, where you will find a community that is filled with cheerleaders and helpers. Writing your memoir will become possible—and often easy—when you are part of The Inspired Memoir Writer

Register now, space is limited

The Inspired Memoir Writer

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. Fall Foliage Prediction Map

2. 10 Popular Edible Mushrooms (And How To Cook With Them)

3. Pinecone Jam (Tastes Like Pine Cone Honey)

4. 5 Ways to Use Lemon Essential Oil for Cleaning

5. HOMEMADE VANILLA EXTRACT

***I use Mountain Rose Herbs for ordering all the herbs I use. Every order I’ve received has always been fresh and gorgeous. Click here to order the herbs you need for your teas, infusions, spices, and other ingredients for your kitchen:

Mountain Rose Herbs

Fall Recipe . . .

1. What better way to get into the new season than with yummy new recipes!

80 Easy Fall Recipes Your Whole Family Will Love

Autumn Fun  . . .

Fall Nature Bucket List! Play a game of matching the leaf to the tree. Or, make pinecone crafts.

From: Fall Nature Bucket List

Nature Walk Video . . .

Nature video to play in the background while you work, walk on a treadmill, or just to relax to!

1. 4K Autumn Waterfalls in the Forests of New England – Beautiful Fall Foliage Scenery & Nature Sounds

Journaling Inspiration . . .

1. Author Mary Amato shares the process of keeping a writer’s notebook.

The Writer’s Notebook

2. HOW TO JOURNAL YOUR WAY TO PUBLISHED AUTHOR STATUS

3. Why Your Stories Matter

4. I Love the Quietness of the Morning

5. Writer’s Notebook Organization for Even the Most Scatterbrained Writer

Random Nature Fact . . .

The amount of time separating humans and Tyrannosaurus rex is less than the time separating the T-rex and the stegosaurus!

Nature Journal Video . . . 

1. If you want to successfully grow your plant knowledge then you need to practice watching & observing how plants grow. This video talks about why there’s so much more to knowing a plant than just a name… And how you can learn about plants by looking at simple patterns in nature.

The Art of Watching Plants: How To Grow Your Plant Knowledge The Old Fashioned Way

Nature Journal Prompt . . .

Use the picture above to practice drawing in your nature journal and noticing details about this animal.

Ant facts: 

Lifespan: up to 15 years (some queens up to 30 years)

Scientific name: Formicidae

Habitat: most live in nests, in the ground, under a rock, or built above ground, made of twigs, sand, or gravel.

Speed: the Saharan silver ant is the fastest ant at 1.9 mph. If an average ant were the size of a human being, would run as fast as a race horse.

What it eats: omnivorous—milk of aphids, insects, small living or dead invertebrates, sap of plants, fruits, insect eggs, etc. Favorite food is – sugar!

What eats (or preys on) it: other insects (beetles, caterpillars, flies, etc.), spiders, snails, snakes, fish, lizards, sparrows, grouse, starlings, bears, coyotes, and certain fungal infections will consume ants.

Did you know? 

Titanomymra giganteum was a prehistoric ant that had a wing span of 6 inches—the biggest ant to have ever existed!

Birds put black ants in their feathers! The ants secrete formic acid which kills parasites.

100 FUN FACTS ABOUT ANTS

Nature Tip:

If you need to repel ants, grow peppermint, rosemary, thyme, lavender, tansy, catnip, pennyroyal, sage, or spearmint near the kitchen window to keep them from invading.

What I’m watching . . .

1. In honor of our spirit animal, we’ll be watching A Bug’s Life, a favorite from when my kids were little,

A Bug’s Life (1998) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers

2. And we are Star Wars fans and will be watching Andor.

Andor | Official Trailer | Disney+

What I’m reading . . .

1. I recently found this book when I was digging in my boxes of books that I packed up a few years ago. One of my all time favorites for writing inspiration!

Walking on Alligators: A Book of Meditations for Writers by Susan Shaughnessy

Quotes I’m pondering . . .

“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” –F. Scott Fitzgerald

and

“Change is a measure of time and, in the autumn, time seems speeded up. What was is not and never again will be; what is is change.” –Edwin Way Teale

Questions I’m considering journaling on . . . 

Time to reflect on what I’ve learned and how I’ve grown over this last summer. I told my daughter on the day of the Autumn Equinox that I was in mourning for the loss of summer (the morning was cool and my feet were cold!) and she said she was celebrating for the return of cooler weather. 

She got to have her cool morning in the 50’s and I got the warm afternoon in the 80’s, so we both got what we wanted for the day!

Just as the leaves die and fall away from the tree, so must summer come to an end. I will reflect on how I’ve changed and grown this year and all the good things that came our way. 

…. And buy more warm socks.

Journal Prompt . . .

Fall is a time to restore balance in your life. 

Where do things feel out of balance? 

What was neglected over the summer?

What can you do to return balance to your life?

Happy Journaling!

. . . Shanna

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I’ll be back on October 9th!

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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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