Journey in Place: Steps for Befriending a Special Place

 

Rue Anemone and Violet on a Spring day

This post is my response to the week #3 exercises from Janisse Ray's "Journey in Place" course. You can follow her (and join in!) on her Trackless Wild Substack. This week Janisse asks us to write a linear poem listing ways to bond with a place. Here's mine.

Steps for Befriending a Special Place:

• Walk its boundaries--its hills and valleys
• Follow its streams
• Hug some trees. Put your nose against the bark and breathe in deep
• Look at maps and then make your own
• Sit very still and watch a squirrel or deer as it feeds
• Walk every trail
• Lie on your back and look up at the treetops
• Keep a bird list
• Learn the history of the place
• Find a cozy picnic spot and enjoy your lunch as you sit and appreciate the view
• Visit at dawn and dusk
• Create your own names for points of interest--Snaky Elm, Fox Cove, Kingfisher Island, Hepatica Hill, Bloodroot Trail
• Pick a location and monitor the changes weekly, monthly, or through the seasons
• Put your toes in the water of a stream
• Touch the mucky mud. Take a handful and smell it
• Close your eyes and listen for 5 minutes
• Taste some dirt
• Identify the plants and trees
• Look for fish and frogs in its waters
• Record changes through the seasons--flowers, insects, bird and animal populations
• Make a photo album
• Look for insects. Carry a bug jar so you can catch and look closely. Let them go when you're done
• Visit in the heat of summer and on a frosty morning
• Look for animal nests and dens
• Record the temperature at different locations on the same day
• Walk in the rain
• Explore the topography and know where the water goes
• Try to walk up to a turtle without scaring it into the water
• Take a long piece of string and make a circle on the ground. Record everything you see in the circle. Use a magnifying lens and do a deep dive
• Visit in the evening and watch the fireflies come out
• Roll some logs and see what's living under them. Roll the logs back when you're done
• Look for spores on the underside of fern leaves
• Learn some frog calls and go out at night for a frog listening party
• Compare the soil from the hilltops with the soil from down in the valleys
• Hunt for fungus. Turn over mushrooms to look for pores or gills. Make a spore print on some paper. Touch some jelly fungus
• Note invasive species--remove if possible, or if the property is not your own, join groups doing invasive removal projects
• Find a rotting log. Break off a fistful of decaying material and roll it in your hand. Smell the sweet fresh smell of new soil
• Clean up trash
• Take a friend on a guided tour
• Sit in your special place and feel the warmth of the sun and the breeze on your skin. Breathe deeply and give thanks