Agreed, @yulem. I see encouraging people to try out phenology as a gateway to encourage them to just go out and do. As a society, we're so disconnected from the outside that sometimes you need a scaffold to help you venture out again. Like I said in the article, my favorite way to observe my land is to go out, walk around, and sketch it. Sometimes the scientific data gets in there, and sometimes I just end up drawing hummingbirds. :)