Even though it’s barely 10:30 a.m., the air feels warm and muggy on my bare shoulders as I push the baby jogger into a local park. Florida summers are hot and humid, but we don’t let it keep us from exploring the natural places in our neighborhood. While my toddler starts climbing over a wooden picnic table facing a bronze-hued pond, I take a small pair of scissors, green thread, a needle, and a palm-sized square of fabric from my bag. Looking above me I notice how the long needles of tall pines sway in the breeze. Starting to stitch, I flick my eyes between the tree canopy and my embroidery page, quickly filling in a thread sketch of the needle clumps: my newest nature journal has begun.

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