Total Eclipse

Yesterday our 'astronomical week' has come to its glorious end. Actually I never planned this as astronomical week, but as unschooler I love letting life teaching us the right lessons at the right time.
So when tuesday we had the chance to admire the northern lights for the first time and in our own yard, questions started flowing almost no-stop and when I told my children that in the same week they could have the chance to see also an eclipse they were just eager to know more and more. And so we spent basically all the week learning about the solar system, the motion of the earth and of the other planets, the reason why the eclipse was happening and the northern lights were happening. Then on thursday we got ready for the big event prapring some homemade tool to watch the sun without any risk for our vision. We took that black film that you put on the glasses of the car and folded it 3 or 4 times and then we laminated it.
Friday morning we headed outside in the garden and waited, even if it was very cold and windy. But it sure was worth. I already experienced an eclipse, in Rome, in the summer of 1999, few weeks pregnant with my oldest doughter, with morning sicknesses in full swing. 16 years went by and there I was, in Finland, with my 5 children. It got me quite emotional and I told this story again and again while admiring what was happening above us. As 16 years ago, at some point the birds became quiet, and the light was dim. This time I had my Nikon and I tried to take few pics, but none of them showed what was happening, probably you need the right filter otherwise the sunlight it's so strong that the camera keep capturing the roundness of the sun even if the eye can clearly see the black spot becoming bigger and bigger and covering up all the sun. But here few pictures...

Have you enjoyed the eclipse ?

Nature Journal : Imboloc through my eyes

And so february is here. January has gone in a flurry of projects and ativities. Days are longer, energy is highier, house is much more tidy and things done are more and more lifting my spirit. In this month my youngest doughter will turn 11, she is leaving childhood behind too, but hopefully some of it will stay a little longer for me to enjoy.
This morning I painted an entry in my nature journal. Today for the Celts was the first day of spring or Imboloc. For Christians is Candlemas, actually there is a fun side, I only learned while studying celtic traditions that candlemas is celebrated by Christians. In my family there was just the saying that if today the weather was good it meant the winter was gone but nobody ever mentioned to me that today was the blessing of the candles for the year in honour of the virgin Mary. Another interesting finding of today was about this Scottish rhyme that basically states the opposite of what we used to say in my family : if Candlemas be fair and bright,come winter have another flight ...
But well, here Imboloc has been characterized by snow. A huge amount of it. It's three days that is snowing no-stop and today the snowfall was even heavier. I actually love this. The temperature it's not so low, we're at 0 C , and the world is white and magic. I not even mind the snow job. And the light ! So much of it comparing december, this morning the sunrise was at 8:30 and the sunset at 16:29, so 8 hours and one minute of daylight,five minutes more then yesterday, while the 20 of december the sunrise was at 9:23 and sunset was at 15:06 !!! So little more then 5 hours and 40 minutes. Incredible isn't it ? Our Creator makes wonderful things. But here few pictures ...

Here from my nature journal, this is what I see when I look the horizon from my kitchen window facing south-east. Unfortunately we don't live in the forest, it's just a small road with nice rows of nice wooden houses, but the forest is very close. So when I look outside I try to lift my eyes over the roofs and I focus on the trees and the sky and it feels like if we're in the forest, into the wild ...

This is the actual sight from the window, but I'm so used to my little game, that I hardly notice houses and roofs now ....

And this is how it looks from the north-west window, in my bedroom. Everything is so white out there. It looks like a dream :)

Happy february to all of you !

Let the sunshine in

'Let the sunshine in' has been 'my quote' for many years on the web, way before I was aware of blogs, way before facebook was even invented. I stole it from my favourite musical 'Hair'. I love the musical and the song is incredible, but I think that my love for the quote reside in the fact that this older lady in my childhood used to call me Sunshine, Raggio di sole. I used to love her so, and now I realize how much she loved me. I think not even my husband in 23 years together ever called me in such loving way, not even my own mother. I think she could see beyond me and understand how bound to the natural world I am, and how important the light and sun is for me. I am litterally drawn to the light. I can spend hours just looking the sky trying to record all the colours and shadows that the light creates. But back to the point. Yesterday and tonight we had heavy snowfalls, but this morning the sky was blue and the sun was shining and the temperature incredibly rised above 0 ( we reached +4 in the sun ). So the ice and the snow started melting from the trees and bushes and the sunlight, which is still quite low on the horizon in this month, was hitting the drops directly. Well I had to take the camera and go outside to capture some of that beauty. It has been breathtaking. Outside the sound of the drops falling in the snow and the birds singing were the only sounds, along with the click of my camera. The wonders of the north. I thank God for such gifts. Here some pics I took in those magical moments.

... Let the sunshine in...