[19] Today’s prompt is Beauty Break
Visit a local garden or park, and journal the most beautiful tree you see. What makes it beautiful to you?

What a weekend! The days are just packed. Taking some time to catch up with myself and with the challenge.

On Saturday I hosted an Earth Day nature journaling meetup and TrashMob clean-up. It was a good day to be in service, to be in community, and to do what’s needed to keep the Earth and our communities healthy and thriving. There were many opportunities to stand up for these principles. I love seeing posts showing all the people who showed up for Democracy on Saturday. Our small-and-mighty group picked up a good amount of trash and saw amazing plants, birds, bugs, tides. A beautiful day.

Oh right. Trees! I sought out a stunner, and fell into love with the textures, the movement, the lushness of this curly willow. Perhaps you’ve seen curly willow branchlets in a floral arrangement? That’s only a tiny hint of the exuberance they have when you look up into the canopy. The poem from Christina Rossetti seems to speak to this moment in time.

But I’m questioning today’s prompt…beauty as superlative…perhaps the prompt could be adapted to “find a tree and journal why it’s beautiful.” I think that instead of seeking out what we feel is beautiful, maybe we can find beauty that is everywhere. It might take more looking, but that’s a lovely way to be drawn deeper into curiosity and attention.

Featured tree: Curly willow / Corkscrew willow ~ Salix matsudana

Poem: In The Willow Shade by Christina Georgina Rossetti

Inspiration: This lovely post by Jean Edwards is a wonderful wrap-up of her 2023 Urban Trees challenge.

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About the #ArborApril challenge

Join the month of drawing and journaling trees!

#ArborApril2025 is a combo challenge with #NatureJournalingApril, a month-long sketching & journaling challenge hosted by Cathy Raingarden, Kate Rutter, and the Wild Wonder Foundation. Each day in April, create a page in your sketchbook or nature journal based on the daily prompt from the prompt list. If you post on social media, use hashtags #ArborApril2025 and #NatureJournalingApril.

Posts & prompts will be on online at Instagram, Wonderland, Substack & Bluesky.