Photo by Tom Kercheval

We gathered for our monthly workshop on September 4 — a day with perfect weather for enjoying nature. Our topic was “A few of my favorite Fall things: Monarchs.” We spoke of the miracle of metamorphosis, which if you are lucky, you can see all the stages of growth and development, truly a miracle of nature, and how the Monarch population is diminishing. Workshop leader  Nancy Morgan noted that this is is true in her yard. Our writing prompts asked what fall wonders come to mind as you prepare for fall, and what was fall like when you were a child? Some of us remember burning the piles of leaves at our homes, when that was legal, and the lovely aroma of burning leaves. One person spoke of racing through all the piles of leaves in her neighborhood, likely scattering them in a way her neighbors didn’t appreciate. We mentioned Loudoun Wildlife’s Native Plant Sale, which is a favorite event in fall. Many other memories were written about and expressed. We listened to two poems about butterflies: “The Example”, by W.H. Davies, and Thomas Wentworth Higginson’s “Ode to a Butterfly”.

We also discussed Loudoun Wildlife’s search for a new home, and a new location for the Writing in Nature workshops in 2026.

The next workshop will take place October 2 at our usual location.

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