Improving on nature

What is your natural weak spot?  What personal shortcoming or handicap of yours requires a little artificial help?

This week's theme is your natural self.

It runs in the family

What is it that shapes your natural self? One important factor is the genes you inherited from your parents and ancestors. What are some obvious physical traits that you have in common with one or both parents? And what are some not-quite-so-obvious personality traits, habits, or tendencies that might also be the result of your genes?

This week's theme is your natural self.

If the shoe doesn't fit

It's risky to force yourself to carry on in shoes that don't fit. You can hurt your feet, your knees, even your back.  What thing in your life feels almost like an ill-fitting shoe?  What are the goals or circumstances that force you to twist yourself into unnatural and uncomfortable shapes?

This week's theme is your natural self.

Your natural self

When or where do you find yourself easily and naturally fitting into the flow of things?  What are the times and places where simply being yourself seems to work out well?

This week's theme is your natural self.

Tell us a story: planting a seed

Tell us a story about a time long ago when you helped plant something, such as a vegetable crop, a tree, or flowers. Who were you with? What did you plant? And were you around later to watch it grow?

Tell us a story: lights in the sky

Fireworks, auroras, and lightning are just a few examples of things that sometimes brighten the night. Where were you when you saw a beautiful, memorable, or dramatic display of lights in the sky?

Ebb and flow

Where does your local tap water come from? Where does your stormwater runoff drain to?

If you drink bottled water, where does it come from?

This week's theme is water.

Water

What stream, river, lake, or ocean is closest to your home? Do you get a chance to see or pass by any bodies of water during your normal daily routine?

This week's theme is water.

Pushing against the current

What recent experience made you feel as though you were working against the natural flow of things?

A beautiful setting

Without stopping to think, which would you pick: A forest path, or a flower garden?

This week's theme is In Five Seconds or Less.

Salt water

Despite having vast continents to spread out on, most people on earth still live close to the ocean. How far are you from the ocean (or a salt-water bay or inlet)?

What is your favorite thing to do at the beach or out on the open water?

In or out

Do you consider yourself an 'outdoorsy' person? Do you eagerly get outside into the sunshine at every opportunity? Or do you hate the bugs/heat/humidity/wind/etc., and only go outside in order to get somewhere else that's inside?

Tell us a story: under a beautiful sky

What is your single happiest memory of being outdoors?

The beginning of fall

In the northern hemisphere, the fall season officially starts a few days from now. Fall brings many new things, such as a new school year, a new television season, and many seasonal fruits and vegetables. What element of the fall season is most exciting or most meaningful for you?

Weather or not

How affected are you by the weather? Do you always need to have a sweater with you? Are you unable to function in high heat and humidity? Do rainy days make you sad? Or do you carry on regardless of what is going on out of doors?

Solar power

Solar energy is gradually emerging as a major energy source. But solar-powered devices — including calculators — have been around for decades, and you don't need any new technology to get heat from a sunny window or to dry your laundry in the sun.

Do you have any solar-powered devices? How do you already use the energy of the sun in your everyday life?

This week's theme is the sun.

Sunrise

There are many kinds of sunrises. When you watch the sun rise, it might be a quiet and peaceful moment when you take the time to appreciate the beauty of the world. Or it might just be a bright light glaring in your eyes as you drive to work.

Where you you the last time you saw a sunrise? What kind of sunrise was it? What kind of day was it?

This week's theme is the sun.

Big storm!

Think of the blizzards, ice storms, hurricanes, and soaking rainstorms that you've lived through. What is your most dramatic or most colorful storm story? Did you ever have to evacuate because of a storm? What big plans did you have to cancel or change because the weather interfered?

Top ten: green things

What are ten living plants you see every day?

The wild side

What happens when you let your wildness come out? Is it fun? Is it scary? Is it dangerous? How do other people react?