Return to the Forest

05/07/2026

After two years of doing nature connection activities for dementia care residents, I am unable to continue, and regretfully have to stop. It was a privilege and an honor to do these activities. The coordinator is asking if I know anyone who can jump on board and continue. I only know one other certified forest therapy guide, and she lives too far away. If you know anybody passionate about bringing a touch of nature to those who are mostly facility-bound, please PM me. This was not volunteer work. A replacement would be paid. The location is in The Vintage Park area of Houston, TX.

04/15/2026

Today at the memory care home, we went through the book "A Forest Walk" by A Bee's Press, and we talked about the forest pictures. Then we listened to nature music, and ended with a game of Garden Bingo. Please remember your loved ones with dementia, and know that there are things they can do, however small.

04/13/2026

I am strongly against the confiscation of public land by the government for greedy monetary gains

keepparkspublic.org

02/18/2026

Today I talked about the beautiful rainbow eucalyptus tree, and residents colored a copy of one. We also smelled eucalyptus oil, and looked at pictures of this magnificent tree.Everyone was given a word art nature sticker to give to their family.

01/21/2026

Today at the nursing home, I gave everyone a glow-in-the-dark glow stick, and talked to them about bioluminescence. We looked at pictures of jellyfish, deep sea creatures, and fireflies. We fashioned their glow sticks into bracelets, and they seemed to enjoy it. We ended with an attempt at making a Haiku poem about fireflies. Unfortunately that was too difficult a task for them, but we had fun overall, anyway.

12/19/2025

This month at the nursing home, I taught a lesson on floriology - the practice of communication by flowers during the Victorian era. After that, we talked about the nutmeg tree, with pictures and fun facts, followed by a demonstration of grating an actual nutmeg nut and smelling the scent of it

11/20/2025

This month at the nursing home, we did the same as last month since they enjoyed it so much. We created little nature scenes. At one point, we spontaneously started singing "Home on the Range," and these dear people who couldn't even remember what they ate for breakfast all burst out in song and they remembered every single word of "Home on the Range." It was amazing. Music really is just amazing. It occupies a place in the brain that is not affected by dementia, and transports them entirely to happier times.

10/15/2025

Today the residents created their own nature scenes

08/20/2025

It's been a while since I've posted, but I'm still going once a month to the memory care facility. We've had a few challenges and are having to pivot. Did just a 30 min program today. We all sang "Moon River," then I did a reading. We then looked at nature-related picture books.

05/21/2025

In today's nature connection activity at the memory care center, we started with motion - acting out a forest walk with all kinds of adventures. After that, I talked about hummingbirds. I passed around a book with beautiful full-color photos, showed my hummingbird feeder and talked about how I make sugar water for the hummingbirds. Then we did an activity, cutting out pictures from a seed catalog and organizing them according to color. At first they didn't know what was going on, but as we got into it, some of the ladies were talking and recollecting their own days gardening with their mothers. It's huge when they are able to recall a memory! Toward the end of our session, I pulled out some jasmine essential oil and put it on a cottonball for them to smell. Some liked it. Some didn't. Some couldn't smell it. Some weren't interested in trying. There's always such a variety of responses - I love the challenge of providing something for everyone, even if it's just sitting them down quietly and looking at a nature-filled picture book.

05/16/2025

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250509-how-gardening-boosts-brain-health?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4c8dd5d78644b3ac463a0

Research shows gardening preserves cognitive function, helping you live well for longer. Now, dementia patients are reaping the benefits with "care farm" prescriptions.