October is a busy time of year, especially for migratory birds…and this heron is no exception! Celebrating World Migratory Bird Day today, I find myself wondering how birds feel, finally reaching their winter grounds after their long fall journeys.
So much has happened for me in the past months, that it feels like a good rest is what is needed, to take a moment and look back, acknowledge… and celebrate!
Many young birds face their first migration with no apparent clue about the place they are traveling to, as they have never been there before… and still, they know their way, and the right time to start their journey.
This phenomenon is called “homing” and it resonates incredibly well with my traveling way of living.
It really feels as every journey is a homeward one, incredibly enough, no matter how far or unknown the destination… it’s the magic side of this life, that moment when once more, from a different corner of the world, in the midst of new people, cultures, stories and nature we look around…and we’re home.
To the traveling-souls reading, this will all sound familiar…
Doing art and music gives me a different kind of home, and that too travels with me, in the form of this blog, of my cello, and now…
…of something else, too!
Brace yourselves, because the heron has got some big news to share:
The EcoAdventures – Christmas 2021 was released in Italy!!!
A collaboration with Claudia Cesarini, the fantastic creative mind behind the LOTTA Bookshop in Rome, with the graphic wonders of Sabrina Ferrero, this project has been in the workings since February… and is now finally available in Italian, with the English version coming soon!!!
For children and nature-lovers of all ages, the EcoAdventures is a book and more: it’s an Advent Calendar, a collection of stories and creative activities, a journey across the world in the company of 24 different animals and their letters to Santa Claus…
An opportunity to wait for Christmas with our loved ones discovering our planet’s wonders and learning how to take care of them, together.
The EcoAdventures also include advice, fun facts and info sheets written by four fantastic wildlife conservation associations, who embraced the idea of the EcoAdventures and embarked on this journey with us… our environmental champions!
They are the Jane Goodall Institute Italia, the Euro Bird Network Italia, the Sea Watch Foundation and the Antarctic and Southern Oceans Coalition.
Thanks to them the EcoAdventures include 4 proposals for fun, sustainable outdoor activities, to take care of different natural environments together… and detailed information about the animal species they protect!
Today, thanks to a love-packed parcel coming straight up from my Rome-home, I finally could hold the book in my hands… and that too, in a very special way, felt like home.
Among our wild -and gentle!- characters you’ll find migratory souls, too!
There is Joe, the monarch butterfly, dreaming of a secret place in the Mexican mountains, where to spend his Christmas among Oyamel trees…
There’s Mara, the loggerhead sea turtle, busy traveling across the Ocean and wishing for a safe beach where to lay her eggs next summer…
…and there’s Felix, the shy flamingo who can’t wait to become pink, like all the grown-ups of his colony!
You may recognize the postcards’ illustrations… as I have been working on them during the spring 😉
Thanks to Claudia’s endless imagination and Sabrina’s graphics, all the animals’ stories are accompanied by arts&crafts activities for the young readers to carry out at home, one for each day of Advent, to help all the animals fulfill their wishes!
For every activity, a stamp to color, cut and glue into the EcoAdventures’ Calendar…
…until on Christmas Day, the EcoAdventurers will be awarded their personal EcoElf Diploma!!
I invite you all to find out more about the EcoAdventures here (in Italian) and to watch this space, for news about the upcoming English language release!!!
I’ll keep you updated, and meanwhile… happy Fall Migration to you all from South London!
