experiencing the outdoors: the relationship with the world around
december 2021
late afternoon
a leaf falls on my head, a greeting.
the beginning of the trail feels more quiet, in a scarcely inhabited sort of way. i take a few minutes to tune in and i notice the sound of water, a fresh autumn brook colored orange by fallen leaves.
next, the sun shines straight into my eyes. as i look up, a spider web that has caught a leaf. hardly visible if not for the afternoon sun and the breeze helping to reveal all the intricacies.
a squirrel follows my path. i stop, mr. squirrel stops. i go, mr. squirrel goes. my shadow. i find him with my eyes and he climbs up a tree.
the sound of bugs and animals so loud but nothing like the daily sirens in the city. it is loud like a high school cafeteria full of talking. all kinds of communication between everyone.
unmoving and unable to speak audibly, a face in the layers of rock serves as the entryway to the pine forest.
baby pines, old pines, tall pines, short pines have dropped a bed of orange pine needles that have mixed with the other trees' orange leaves.
swaying in the wind the trees sound like the brook at the beginning of the trail but it feels more inhabited, bugs crawling around the leaves and my shoes and leaves falling with every whoosh.
closing my eyes i sway with the trees.
the leaves and pine needles below me start to feel more like a bed and i am feeling the desire to rest under the trees that feel safe, like a roof on a home.
just existing i open my eyes watch the leaves fall.
Settler label: Forest Park John F. Kennedy Memorial Forest
early afternoon
the cold bites. leaves are rustling. an odd mix of city air and autumn leaves. the start of the walking path is unfortunately paved, reminding me of how aggressive i feel modernization has been on the land. kind of interesting how it is a nature trail yet split by pavement.
however, accessibility is important. i do wonder though how before the land was paved how people probably helped the members of their community around without having to aggressively put toxic materials on top of the dirt. how many more people could see more of the place we live in if we just helped one another?
as i walk in further, a dirt path comes up. i sit, and it seems to allow the seemingly quiet park in the middle of an urban landscape open up. all of the sudden, squirrels, birds, woodpeckers, all stand out more than before. now it feels like there are squirrels and birds at every tree and leaf, when before it seems my presence scared them away.
wind rustling through the trees starts to sound louder than cars and the autumn leaves smell stronger than their gasoline. an owl comes out to say hello, despite my belief that owls are all nocturnal.
loud and present.
like the smell of the leaves and dirt, somehow "clean" smelling even though it consists of what is "dirty." surely cleaner than some of the cleaning chemicals used in homes.
i sit for a while, immersed by the space. still a car or two comes around, but the place i thought was less busy filled with life once i stayed still and quiet long enough to realize.
squirrels sound more like massive animals with how the leaves have fallen and the way they jump around. they do not seem to mind me sitting there while they run around. i wonder what animals could be hiding in plain sight.
try to notice what is not moving.
i could not tell, too distracted by all the sounds and movement.
i get lost trying to find my way back to my car, but notice a thorn-covered vine i had not noticed after the forth time of walking past it.
notice what is not moving.
right in front of you.
plain sight.
Settler label: Laumeier Sculpture Park
evening
i cannot help but think about how the "wild" spaces of this park are along the edges and the center is filled with odd slabs of concrete, metal, and even a tree covered in what seems to be another kind of metal.
interesting how there is a bunch of half-dead grass in a sea of man-made obtrusive objects, one even honoring technological advances.
KEEP OFF
hm, kind of interesting how metal industrial beams honoring tech advances get to sit on grass, which is not very sustainable, and as the visitor it is just there to take up space and be looked at - not to even be enjoyed by any kind of exploration.
restrictive, like the way they confine the trees to the outskirts of the park to make way for massive industrial pieces.
unlike other city parks i have gone, this one feels quieter. there is hardly a bird anywhere, and all i can hear is the ring of the highway nearby.
the only thing i felt i could connect with in a sea of man-made materials was the moon.
the moon, affecting all of us. all of the time. tides, water, humans are made up of 70% water.
unaffected yet by human greed, mostly.
cannot be pushed to the side like the trees in the park, cannot be controlled by human desire.
strength in ultimate harmony?
metaphor?
on my way to my car i rushed, not taking any notes or photographs, but i had to get this audio.
the local birds that i listen to every morning were singing after a nice rain, enjoying the sunshine that had just come out and was glowing on their tree.
three little birds i saw in the quick few minutes i stopped before rushing to my destination. somehow they thrive in the corridors of the tall brick buildings and pavement.
they must love the quiet the rain gives them from as much car movement and people smoking cigarettes by their favorite trees.
