Yesterday, whilst hunkering down in the home office, listening to and observing the thunderstorm, I remembered to note down the experience in my “Biotime Log”, which has been a rather haphazard practice so far. I wrote:
“Very stormy day, thunder that sounds like a growl, lightning brightening the dark skies”.
The Biotime Log is available from Permanent Publications and includes a lovely introduction by Maddy Harland about biotime. Maddy writes:
“Biotime is more than the observations gleaned from the changing of the seasons and it can also be viewed as the observation of patterns in Nature. Nature doesn’t run by human calendars, it has its own rhythms that are influenced by the great flows of planetary cycles like the waxing and waning of the Moon, the subsequent tides, the tilting of the Earth’s axis, changes in global temperatures and, phenomena like El Niño and the Gulf Stream. These are huge and varying cycles that affect our regional weather. They also influence phenomena like the migration of birds and mammals, when birds nest and lay eggs, the hibernation and fertility of mammals, the first flowering of bulbs, or when the leaves of deciduous trees first unfurl in spring”.
“Biotime brings me into a greater sense of intimacy with the plants in my garden, the micro climate of my region and in the garden itself, and it makes me more aware of the different species and their habits every year. It is a useful way of becoming more intimate with your local surroundings, and it can help predict frosts so you can protect tender plants, observe new species and see deeper patterns in the landscape”.
So much of what we do as Gardeners becomes a meditative experience, observations, noting, recognising patterns and listening. Being completely engrossed and absorbed by the activity you are engaging in, taking in the experience, the sounds and climatic conditions around you, the gentle rhythms of life.
In my first entry, 8 May 2024, I noted:
100 ducks move across the sky towards the coast, hopefully to the local storm water ponds. It turns out a group of ducks flying is called a flock, a flight or a skein. When the ducks are on the water, they are called a raft, a flock, a badling and when on land; a flock, a waddling”.
And here we are, back to words describing nature, or the lack thereof. How narrow our options in common speech have become.
I was thinking of adding other, more personal observations to the log, that fit with the idea of biotime, becoming more aware or in tune with my own cycles. Things like, energy levels, moods, sleep, menstrual cycle, etc. Maddy also talks about this:
“We do not have to limit our observations to what we might regard as outside, or ‘Nature’. We can also record our own cycles: our moods, physical energy, periods of creativity, or any other psychological event that we wish to study and uncover patterns…to enable us to work with them, rather than being taken by surprise and inadvertently working against them. Women can record their menstrual cycles in relation to the waxing and waning of the Moon, their differing levels of energy (Physical, emotional, mental), their physical symptoms, habit tracking, and so on, to gain a deeper insight into their sleep patterns, planning rest and reflection at times of low energy or discomfort.”
And I’m about to start raising some seed, after a couple of years away, another good observation for the biotime log. All this energy for more conscious observation and recording….
Spring must be on the way.
https://www.permanentpublications.co.uk/port/the-biotime-log-by-maddy-harland/