February 2026

My podcast programming this year is simple – love letters to nature. I invite you to join me in this collaborative project to reweave ourselves to the natural world and each other.  Share your love letters with me at fromtheoutsidellc@gmail.com and I will read your loving words to nature on my podcast. How does nature make you feel, how does she sustain you, support you, inspire you, excite you? Read your letters to nature and listen for a response. What wisdom does she offer you? As we profess our deep love and gratitude to our source of life, let us deepen our sense of place, purpose, and sense of belonging.

The month, I welcomed the continued cold days of late winter, a quiet walk in the winter forest, the slow warming of my body and the waking of my mind as we move ever closer to spring, and the opportunity to connect more deeply to my fern collection to nurture my own sense of belonging. Listen as I read my February love letter to nature. What moments of joy, love, and gratitude did nature offer you in February?

Transcript

Hi everyone! Welcome to Season 4 and Episode 36 of the From the Outside with Sarah C podcast! I am Sarah Croscutt, the host and creator of this podcast and the owner and facilitator of From the Outside, a series of plant and nature-based lessons that help us to cultivate a deeper relationship to the natural world, ourselves, and each other. In addition, I am a published environmental writer. My work has been included in several anthologies published by Plants and Poetry Journal (www.plantsandpoetry.org) and Wild Roof Journal (www.wildroofjournal.com).  I am also the author of The Fairy Circle Way: Cultivating Connection Through Nature, a collection of my own lyrical essays, insightful narrative, inspired visual art, and simple, step-by-step practices that are designed to guide you in connecting more deeply to nature’s wisdom and yourself.  You can learn more and find links on my website, www.fromtheoutsidellc.com.

In the past two years or so, I have begun to deepen my connection to my Irish and Welsh ancestral roots. Each of us can claim indigeneity to this beautiful planet. Our earliest ancestors lived in kinship with the natural world. Their relationship with nature, their highly regarded source of life, was rooted in respect, reverence and reciprocity.  

We are living in unbelievably uncertain times. Many of us are feeling a deep sense of grief and loss – for humanity and our beloved planet. As I tend my own grief and hold the collective grief of others, I lean into nature, her comfort and wisdom. If we lean into our grief, we feel its entanglement with love. They are intertwined. Love is the wellspring from which we experience joy, gratitude, and grief.  It grows from our profound presence and awareness. Love is the most authentic and creative state of being.  In love, we recognize or “see” each other in a state of deep acknowledgement. In turn, we kindle our circle of belonging and kinship – to nature, to ourselves, and to each other.  What we love we honor and protect, deepening the authentic relationships with others that soothe and support us in times of sorrow.  

My podcast programming this season continues with my simple practice from last season – love letters to nature. I invite you to join me in this collaborative project to reweave ourselves to the natural world and each other.  Share your love letters with me at fromtheoutsidellc@gmail.com and I will read your loving words to nature on my podcast. How does nature make you feel, how does she sustain you, support you, inspire you, excite you? Read your letters to nature and listen for a response. What wisdom does she offer you? As we profess our deep love and gratitude to our source of life, let us deepen our sense of place, purpose, and belonging.

Yet again, I am a little late in creating this February episode. My grandchildren and life in general have kept me very busy! Nonetheless, here it is – my reflections on February. February was another cold month – very much rooted in winter. The cold weather seamlessly flowed from January into February which is not always the case here in Virginia. Although the temperature outdoors remained quite cold, I felt my own body beginning to warm and my mind melting into the thoughts of garden planning and seed starting. I am invigorated by the thoughts of raised bed prep, weeding, pruning, and the greening up of my garden. For now, it’s just dreaming and planning.  

To my beloved Nature, 

In February, 

 I thank you for:

1. The continued cold…Actually, I am savoring these chilly days as I know the hot, humid days of summer will be here soon enough. 

2. A walk in the forest in late February – So quiet - I connected with the green of the ferns, the moss, and the small partridge berry growing low to the forest floor with its small, bright, red berries. Maybe it was own body recognizing my own “greening up” as I feel the passing of time, moving ever closer to the spring equinox. 

3. I have a collection of large ferns that spend the summers in a small, mossy nook outdoors. Truly, the only little shady spot in my yard. I basically ignore them all summer in their collective, shared space and they grow so wild and free! They are so lush and green by the end of summer as I bring them inside where they just do their best to hang on until they all go back outdoors when the warm weather return. After my walk in the forest, I was really pulled to spend some purposeful and intentional time with my fern collection. In my collection, each species of fern likes it particular “sit spot” and sit spot partner. I really did not figure this out until this winter. I really wanted them to thrive, not just survive their time indoors, so I paid close attention to how they responded to light and their fern “neighbors.” I mist them with a sprayer daily. They respond positively to that daily spray, light touch to their leaves, and some positive words. I have bestowed the name “Queen” to my maidenhair fern. She is by far the most sensitive to the indoor environment. She seems to prefer to be alone in my bedroom placed right in front of the northern facing window. When my grandsons visit, the 4-year-old likes to mist the ferns. I introduced him to the “Queen”, and we talked about how plants can “talk to you” but not the same way people talk to each other. I told him if we watch them, pay attention, they will tell us what they need – more/less light, amount of water, fertilizer, etc. He came back out to the kitchen and told his mom that plants could talk to us. Then he looked at one of the ferns and said, “Gramma, I just saw that fern move its leaf! I think it is trying to tell me something!” Embracing the wonder and wisdom of nature is something we actively do as children, but often lose as adults. It is so important to have a daily, purposeful and intentional interaction with nature – it can be as simple as caring for a houseplant. 

So, after my walk in the woods, I turned to the Belonging chapter in my book and spent some time connecting more deeply to my ferns. One of the practice activities at the end of this chapter is to nurture a houseplant. I tapped into my ferns’ unique needs and form – the amount of light and water, leaf shapes, spore patterns, texture, and color. Of course, I had already been doing some this since bringing them indoors in the last fall, but I felt I deepened my own sense of belonging as I was reminded of my own unique needs and form, reminding myself that I need to pay more attention to the conditions that help me thrive and not just survive, especially during times of struggle. I am grateful for the daily task of nurturing my ferns and other houseplants and the wisdom they offer. 

Please check out The Fairy Circle Way: Cultivating Connection Through Nature for a variety of simple, step-by-step practices to connect you more deeply to nature and yourself.

Announcements and Upcoming Events

 As I mentioned last month, my book, Fairy Circle Way: Cultivating Connection Through Nature is now available through Amazon in Kindle, paperback and hardcover formats, Barnes and Noble, and most book retailers as it is available for global retail distribution through IngramSpark. If you have been listening to this podcast from the beginning of Season 1, you are familiar with my fairy circle model as a practical guide to cultivate a purposeful and intentional relationship with nature. My book is a collection of my own lyrical essays, inspired visual art, insightful narrative, and simple, step-by-step, daily practices designed to guide readers into a deeper relationship with nature and themselves, reconnecting them to their sense of belonging, their truest self, and the wisdom of the natural world. If you choose to purchase the book and feel led, please write a five-star review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, etc. so others may find it. 

If you are in the Richmond, VA area:

The Wisdom from the Wild series continues to meet the 1st Sunday of the month at 10:00 am at Powhatan State Park, Powhatan, VA. We will meet at the Equestrian parking lot. Each month has a theme that follows the rhythms and cycles of nature. April’s theme is impermanence, or ephemerality. We will explore the sensational, but short-lived, seasonal, ephemeral forest wildflowers. In April, the first Sunday of the month, 4/5/26, happens to be Easter Sunday, so I have changed our program date to 4/12/26, the second Sunday in April. You can visit the Events tab on my website or the Powhatan State Park website (https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/powhatan) for details. 

 Wisdom from the Wild Description

Whether you’re a veteran outdoor type or only beginning to discover your connection to the natural world, Wisdom from the Wild will lead you on wonder-filled journey to recovering your sense of belonging and finding your truest self, rooted in the rhythms and raptures of nature. Through a variety of mindful observations and reflections synchronized with the seasons, we will examine the ecology of natural ecosystems, explore our own ecological body, and practice integrating nature’s wisdom into our daily life. The program series is free of charge, but parking fees ($5) apply.

 Here is the description for April’s program, Impermanence:

On our wander this month, we will explore woodland, ephemeral wildflowers, a variety of small plants that carpet the forest floor with their colorful blooms early in spring.  These sweet, short-lived forest beauties can teach us a lot about impermanence and the continual ebb and flow of life – joy, sadness, perturbation, resilience, grief, love, and loss.

Thank you so much for listening! I encourage you to venture out – to your backyard, a local park, a green space near where you work and spend a few minutes purposefully and intentionally connecting with nature.  Use your whole body – really integrate into your being what you see, smell, hear, and feel.  Spend time with those you love or sit in silence, solitude, and stillness. They are important states of being in nurturing our nature connections. Acknowledge nature’s wisdom and role in your life. Nature shows us how beautiful and transformative growth can be! Remember, we are all connected to the source of life and each other! With that said, you can connect with me through my website www.fromtheoutsidellc.com, or on Instagram @sarahc_outside. Links to podcast, website, publications, webinars, and all the things can be found there! Visit my website for upcoming classes in the local community, latest publications, and details on workshops available for educational settings, professional development, recovery programs, conferences, or other groups. As always, please feel free to reach out! 

Until next time, take care!