Appreciation of Nature

Action of the Month for July:

Take at least 10 minutes daily this month to spend time with nature in order to appreciate God's creation and delight your soul. Examples of ways include:

• garden
• walk the dog
• sit outside
• visit a park
• watch and listen to birds
• observe bees pollenating
• ​watch butterflies in flight
• gaze at the mountains
• visit the MSU Duck Pond
• listen to a stream, creek, or river
• walk a trail (and leave no trace)
• camp (and leave no trace)
• enjoy a sunset

• head to a Farmer's Market
• attend the Fair and see the animals
• view the stars
• contemplate the clouds
• photograph nature's splendor
• watch a nature program
• read a nature book
• listen to sounds of nature online from Montana State University Library's Acoustic Atlas
  acousticatlas.org/index.php 
• look for devotional materials that enrich love of nature

Advanced Action:

Convert part of your lawn to a pollinators garden to attract bees, birds, caterpillars, and butterflies. Watering a garden of native plants that attract these pollinators can require less water than watering a lawn. Avoiding using pesticides and herbicides for pollinator gardens. You can find tips on creating a Pollinator Garden space at the links that follow:

Jan Cashman's article Why Are Pollinators and Pollinator Plants So Important? 
Lolo National Forest's document Attracting Pollinators and Using Native Plants

Monarch caterpillar

Monarch chrysalis hanging from a milkweed leaf

Monarch butterfly