Goodness, the words you've written here reside in my soul, too. Not often I come across someone who reads Martin Shaw. I can't agree more about the digital age; I've been off social media for several years, except for Instagram where I barely maintain a presence. Social media gives me an instant feeling of "ick." Thank you for taking us on your hike and all of the observations you've given us. Hiking is my lifeblood. Nature is my holy, my favorite place to walk is in north central Montana in the Bear Paw Mountains.
Every evening, I go on a short walk with my dog friends from one end of our property to the other and back. We are religious about our nightly walk and I have gone so far as clearing a walking path with the tractor when moving snow around the property. Halfway on this brief walk, I stop at a boulder that was placed on the property by a previous occupant. On my way back, I stop at the boulder, turn off my flashlight, stand still, look, and listen. When I first started this practice of standing still on the walk, I found myself feeling pensive and sometimes emotional. I kept up the practice and eventually I learned to be comfortable being still with myself and with nature, appreciating silence, listening to the breeze through the trees, and sometimes listening to my dog friends abruptly engaging with a small critter as it scrambles to a neighboring property. I’ve seen shooting stars and passenger planes at high-elevations (likely Portland bound). I take in the evening breeze or the smell of falling rain. A few seconds later, I turn on the flashlight and we head back. Sue, your article helped me realize that this is a meditation, my holy experience. Thanks very much. Love - Jenne
Thank you for this post and for the reminder to get outside. As a printmaker friend says, "Outside fuels my insides." Without time out in what Thoreau calls "the real world," my whole self would wither, shrinking into a small and nasty lump. My favorite place to walk is the trail right outside my door, leading through the high prairie where I live. I am fortunate to have miles of trails through the greenbelts in this rural place. And thank you too, for the pictures from the Klickitat Trail. My husband and mom and dad are all "going to ground" in a Camas prairie shaded by big old Oregon white oaks high above the Klickitat on my brother and sister-in-law's land there, so that landscape is special to me.
I was pleasantly surprised to see your connection to the PNW & Columbia River Gorge in your book, Bless the Birds. And now a another closer connection!
Richard and Molly and I lived in Olympia, on the Wet Side, for three years after grad school. It's not my place, but I did love learning it. The Gorge and particularly now the Klickitat will always be special to me because my beloveds are there in that soil. One of my books, Seasons on the Pacific Coast, is about the nature of the whole coast, from BC to Mexico.
Goodness, the words you've written here reside in my soul, too. Not often I come across someone who reads Martin Shaw. I can't agree more about the digital age; I've been off social media for several years, except for Instagram where I barely maintain a presence. Social media gives me an instant feeling of "ick." Thank you for taking us on your hike and all of the observations you've given us. Hiking is my lifeblood. Nature is my holy, my favorite place to walk is in north central Montana in the Bear Paw Mountains.
Thank you, Jenny! I am only a few hours from Central Oregon. Perhaps we can meet for a hike.
That would be wonderful!
Every evening, I go on a short walk with my dog friends from one end of our property to the other and back. We are religious about our nightly walk and I have gone so far as clearing a walking path with the tractor when moving snow around the property. Halfway on this brief walk, I stop at a boulder that was placed on the property by a previous occupant. On my way back, I stop at the boulder, turn off my flashlight, stand still, look, and listen. When I first started this practice of standing still on the walk, I found myself feeling pensive and sometimes emotional. I kept up the practice and eventually I learned to be comfortable being still with myself and with nature, appreciating silence, listening to the breeze through the trees, and sometimes listening to my dog friends abruptly engaging with a small critter as it scrambles to a neighboring property. I’ve seen shooting stars and passenger planes at high-elevations (likely Portland bound). I take in the evening breeze or the smell of falling rain. A few seconds later, I turn on the flashlight and we head back. Sue, your article helped me realize that this is a meditation, my holy experience. Thanks very much. Love - Jenne
I love this, Jenne! Yes, holy and sacred moments can be found each and every day if we simply stop and look.
A wonderful post, Sue, thanks!
Thank you, Lisa.
I had no idea that the average amount of time on digital media was so extensive.
I think most of us don't realize how much we have incorporated it into our lives. And I suspect it may be more teenagers.
Thank you for this post and for the reminder to get outside. As a printmaker friend says, "Outside fuels my insides." Without time out in what Thoreau calls "the real world," my whole self would wither, shrinking into a small and nasty lump. My favorite place to walk is the trail right outside my door, leading through the high prairie where I live. I am fortunate to have miles of trails through the greenbelts in this rural place. And thank you too, for the pictures from the Klickitat Trail. My husband and mom and dad are all "going to ground" in a Camas prairie shaded by big old Oregon white oaks high above the Klickitat on my brother and sister-in-law's land there, so that landscape is special to me.
I was pleasantly surprised to see your connection to the PNW & Columbia River Gorge in your book, Bless the Birds. And now a another closer connection!
Richard and Molly and I lived in Olympia, on the Wet Side, for three years after grad school. It's not my place, but I did love learning it. The Gorge and particularly now the Klickitat will always be special to me because my beloveds are there in that soil. One of my books, Seasons on the Pacific Coast, is about the nature of the whole coast, from BC to Mexico.