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Eco Expressions in Ocean Beach, Calif. news

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Finding the right balance between nature and spirit


Article by Patricia M. Walsh

March 27, 2008

When Jan D. Wellik ends her nature writing workshops at the Point Loma Native Plant Reserve, she traditionally invites students to donate a line from their individual observations to create a group poem.
The founder and director of Eco Expressions, a program designed to reach out to local youths, Wellik offers the workshops to underscore a powerful point: Preservation of nature and the written word are a collaborative blend because the gardens and stories will not bloom from a solitary hand, she said.
On a recent afternoon, standing on the sloping hill of the reserve, lush and colorful with foliage from February’s rains, just above the din of traffic on Nimitz Boulevard, Wellik held just such a workshop where participants of the day contributed in the mesh of nature and spirit:

Yellow caps floating in the sea of textured greens
the hues of a verdant rainbow

Sky hazy cream and light pale blue
cirrus clouds bellow by

Inner-city park is a little sanctuary
for humans, birds and insects

Full and thick with wonder
black sage a whirl of buds



Complete article is here:

http://www.sdnews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2008/03/27/47ebe15ee8f45

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