I generally don’t listen to audiobooks or music or anything on my phone during my pedestrian rambles. I also don’t usually set any kind of goal, track my walking speed, or try to solve any of my personal problems. No shade intended for those who get something different from walking. I’m simply describing how the practice is meaningful to me. My brain tends to hyperdrive most of the time, and this is how I find some balance in my life.
As much as possible, I like to adopt a child’s mind approach, open to exploration and experience, to a sense of wonder for whatever I might happen upon. Three phenomena caught my attention today.
First, I was walking near a sweetgum tree. Nonetheless, it took me a minute to realize what the darker object in this photo is.
At first, I thought it might be an old paper wasps’ nest that had fallen to the ground. But when I picked it up, I realized it was much too solid and hard. Only when I spotted a newly shed Sweetgum seedball nearby did I realize this is what they look like when they’ve been around a while and weathered difficult times. Doesn’t it look a lot like a wasps’ nest, though? Nature’s repeating patterns, I suppose.
Second item was a not-small hole in the ground. It looked like perhaps someone had dug out a small tree and forgot to backfill. Or else dug a hole for a tree and then never managed to plant it?
I estimate the hole to be somewhere between 1 and 1/2 to 2 feet on the long side. Definitely big enough my entire shoe would have fit in. I tried to plumb the depths through the leaf fill using a stick I found, but I’m not sure if I hit the bottom. I’d say it’s at least as deep as it is long.
The third wonder of the day was this patch of grass that’s a completely different hue than all the grass around. Did a spaceship set down here? I don’t really believe that. But why is it like this?
From a distance, it looked like it could be straw or hay spread on the ground. But it’s just monochromatic grass. Pacing it off, I came up with a guessed measurement of around 30 feet by 50 feet. It couldn’t be space aliens, of course. But how about fairies?
Truly, you don’t have to travel to distant lands to be an explorer. I’ve been walking around this same neighborhood for 20+ years, and I see new things all the time. It’s just a matter of noticing them.
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Nomadic Noesis 