Week 1 - Walk 2: Vision

 

Walk Details

Date: September 24, 2020

Time: 5:20 pm

Weather: Sunny

Temperature: 90 degrees Fahrenheit

Air Quality Index: 33

The Creative Exercise

Select one object from your walk to photograph - I especially encourage you to try this if photography is not your primary medium. Make 20 photos of the object.

Results

Reflection

I found myself looking at everything on my familiar path with new eyes. I kept asking what would be interesting enough to take twenty or so photos from different angles. I thought about what I like about my path (the four bridges). At first, I wasn't sure how I'd be able to find 20 photos that didn't look the same or that didn't get boring. But, I found the more I took, the more possibilities I discovered. What I especially loved (and was surprised at) is how as I took more and more photos, I was focusing more and more on smaller details, like the wood grain. Finding the beauty in the details reminded me how important it is to slow down and look beyond the immediate view. 

Week 1 - Walk 1: Observation

Walk Details

Date: September 22, 2020 (First Day of Fall)

Time: 7:12 am

Weather: Sunny

Temperature: 63 degrees Fahrenheit

Air Quality Index: 32

Observations

Noticing

I’m fortunate to live in an area surrounded by many paved bike paths and other trails. There are several routes I can take that result in somewhat of a loop before I backtrack my way home. During this morning’s walk I contemplated why I always choose one particular loop over several others. While it is true that the route I chose this morning is one of the closest and most defined loops, that’s now why I gravitate towards it. I gravitate towards this loop for the variety. This route has three wooden planked bridges, one set of eagle scout built stairs, a couple marsh areas, a nice hill to get the heart rate pumping, and it’s usually not too busy which is especially helpful in this new COVID-19 era. This morning just five people crossed my path, one of which was on a bicycle. 

Hearing

Because it was quiet and peaceful, I heard at least five different species of birds. I was reminded that I need to spend more time learning about the birds. I heard the creek water running and wondered why it was running. There had to have been several sprinkler systems providing runoff in the area to create the sound. I was startled out of the peaceful background sounds by a squirrel foraging in the trees. And finally as I crested the hill, I heard the cars driving along the major thoroughfare that runs parallel to my trail before it curves back into the green and crosses the final bridge in my looping path.

Seeing

All along my path I saw evidence of the changing season. The elderberry shrubs are drooping. The redbud trees look like their name with small red seed pods. The skeletonweed that was blooming so fervently a few weeks ago is drying up. The poison oak is turning from shiny green to dull russet. The wild grape and blackberry are beginning to go dormant. The chill in the morning air against my skin and the branches that have already shed their leaves are a stark reminder of the cold and dark that is to come. But until then, I’ll enjoy the golden light shortly before sunrise that continues to light mornings. For now.

On Rebecca Solnit's First Chapter of Wanderlust

While reading the first chapter of Rebecca Solnit’s Wanderlust, I couldn’t help but picture her exact path. I’ve been to those Marin Headlands many times. I spent a week there as a 6th grader on a sleep away school trip. And I spent another week there as a counselor when my younger sister was a 6th grader on her sleepaway camp. I’ve gone back to those military bunkers and coastal bluffs many times over the years. There is a sense of peace that comes from walking through the area. 

The peace of the Marin Headlands resonate so deeply with me that after three months of stay-at-home orders, cancelled travel plans, and no days off work, I decided I needed to visit those bluffs. I took time off work and took a day trip to drive to the area. I spent the morning wandering and listening. I paused on the roof of a bunker to eat a snack and just be. I sketched and I journaled. I walked the beach and collected a jar of ocean water to help me remember when I was once again landlocked. I got sunburned because I forgot how brutal the sun can be even when hidden by the marine layer of fog. And after several hours walking in solitude throughout the region, I took the long drive back home feeling lighter and more clear-headed than I had in months. 

And so it was easy for me to truly understand Rebecca Solnit’s words as I walked her path within my mind. I know those stairs and that lagoon. Just reading about her walk gave me a semblance of the calm I feel when I am actually there. And it made me hope that as I travel through the Walking as Creative Practice course through the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), I can produce work that will allow me to return to the feelings I had while walking even when I am unable to do so.