Silent Walking, one of the latest hot topics to take the internet by storm, sure sounded good to me. I love walking and try to get out almost every day for a walk or better yet a long hike. And, with my inclination towards introversion, I find intervals of silence rejuvenating. I learned that the Silent Walking trend started with a June 2023 Tik Tok post by content creator Mady Maio. She was directed by her dietician to walk 30…
I planned to go to a different spot. Perhaps out past Horse Island to the remote tip of Bird Shoal where I might gain a new perspective on nature in the Rachel Carson Reserve near Beaufort, NC. My two previous sit spots at the Reserve had been conducted from the observation deck on Carrot Island. Both had been beautiful, instructive, and remained vividly etched in my memory. I had learned much about the salt marshes and tidal flats. Now, I…
The Aldo Leopold Bench At 3:30 a.m., with such dignity as I can muster of a July morning, I step from my cabin door, bearing in either hand my emblems of sovereignty, a coffee pot and a notebook. I seat myself on a bench facing the white wake of the morning star. I set the pot of coffee beside me. I extract a cup from my shirt front, hoping none will notice its informal mode of transport. I…
Down three flights of stairs, a quick sixty-eight steps across the yard, and I arrived at the edge of the vacant lot. Often while on vacation at my timeshare I had walked by this lot usually eager to get to the beach and had paid scant attention to what by all appearances was simply an overgrown and neglected patch of property. Then two days ago on my way to a beach walk I heard faint seet-seet-seet calls, turned and spotted…
September Sunrise The Wood Duck Trail JohnFirst light inched above the horizon while nighttime silence enveloped us as we walked slowly down the Wood Duck Trail on our way to a sit spot. In the dim light my feet touch-stepped over the roots and rocks and the up and down contours of the trail. I was glad to walk slowly. It was an opportunity to prepare for our sit spot, a chance to even out my breathing and open my…
The question in my mind as I walked up the side of the elevated sand mound was clear. Could I experience a deep nature connection conducting an hour long sit spot right in my back yard? I thought the answer was yes, given that nature was most likely just as rich and complex in my backyard as in some remote and wild park or forest. It was an important question for me. I hoped to demonstrate that the sit spot…
Prologue John It’s a different story taking another person to an early morning sit spot. On my own, I get there when I get there. But with a guest there is a schedule, in this case a 6:15 a.m. meet up so I needed to get up at 5:15. Worried about being on time I woke up during a night of restless sleep to check the time. I noticed other concerns winding in and out of my dream. How much…
Beyond the end of the boardwalk bands of orange and yellow inched into the sky. I would make it to the beach in time for the sunrise. The issue had been in doubt. It had been a noisy night at the campground with devotees of the Southern rock jam band Widespread Panic holding a raucous after concert party. Finally at 4 in the morning, in despair, I crawled out of my sleeping bag, stumbled out of the tent, and staggered…
For the majority of enthusiasts, however, birdwatching simply provides a personal and very special entrée into the natural world. Graeme Gibson Day 1 Faint first light, swirls of yellow and orange edging above the southern horizon, the excitement of an early morning winter sit spot— this all felt familiar. The difference was I didn’t have to layer up, drive on icy roads, and trudge through deep snow to get to my destination. Instead, I was seated in…
As I edged the car door open six crows flew in suddenly, circled around a tall tree in the dim pre-dawn light, cawed loudly and continuously, landed in the gray skeletal branches, jumped back in the air, and landed again. I cautiously opened the door the rest of the way and stepped out. The crows fell silent and perched peacefully in the branches. Quite a greeting I thought as shouldered my gear preparing to walk through the woods to my…