Outside In

December 9, 2017 A Pugmire

At the equator, the surface of the earth spins at 460 meters per second, and in its journey around the sun our blue orb hurls through space at a breathless 30 kilometers per second, or 67,000 miles per hour. Within our own private spheres sometimes it can feel like we are moving even faster than that. Working to stay ahead of new technologies, changing job requirements, geopolitical repositioning, escalating demands on time and energy, and the continual redefinition of almost everything, well, it can sometimes be too much. This rush to better, bigger, brighter isn’t likely to slow down anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t pause every once in a while and in fact, we should.

Even in the most urban environment, somewhere outside our temples to technology, are elements that predate smart phones, big data and black swans. These elements will exist, long after today’s technology is so yesterday, and perhaps it is worth a few moments to let some of that natural world into our consciousness and see what happens.

Try this when you can – at break, before you get in your car after work, at soccer practice, on the way into the store, at the gas station, walking to the subway. Allow yourself one minute to be completely in the moment and register what you observe. If you’re worried about running over, set a timer, but give yourself one full minute. What do you notice? Cold or hot? Windy or still? Noisy or quiet? Dark or light? Anything growing nearby? A weed in a crack in the road? Petunias in a cement planter? What shape are the leaves? Is there a scent? All one shade or many shades? Is there a pattern? Insects? What kind? What color is the dirt?

Okay, the minute is probably up, but check your breathing. Check the muscles in your face, the position of the your hands and shoulders.

Tristan Gooley writes and teaches about what he calls “The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs.” Schooled by indigenous peoples far from the centers of civilization, he has learned to see and navigate the natural world with fresh eyes. This shift in perspective led him to see other things with new eyes as well. The current of modern life is swift and we can learn to swim or be swept away, but the stream is not the entirety of our world. Every once in a while it’s ok to swim to the shore and watch the world roll by.

The natural world is scaled – from the grand to the humble, and at each level miraculous and surprising patterns reveal themselves. Outside our walls and windows, there is a conversation underway – mostly without words, and we can join in anywhere, anytime. If I let the outside in I might discover what the earth says to the sky, what the wind and desert talk about beneath the stars, and what salty topics the sea discusses with anemones and urchins while they moon dance the tides away. If I am willing to be still and learn the language, that is a conversation definitely worth being a part of.

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Annie says:

January 14, 2018 at 2:45 pm

This is lovely,Anne. I’m looking forward to future installments!
1. A Pugmire says:
  
  February 20, 2018 at 8:56 pm
  
  Hope you continue to enjoy. Please feel free to share anything you think might inspire or delight!

Comments are closed.

– World’s highest motorable road – Umling La or Umlingla Pass in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir – at 5,883 meters or 19,300 feet above sea level.

– World’s lowest motorable road – Route 90 in Israel passing along the western bank of the Dead Sea at a -423 meters or 1,388 feet below sea level (Note: there are lower elevations but this is considered the lowest motorable road.)

– Straightest Road – The Eyre Highway in Australia that is a 90 mile stretch of road without a single curve – which pales beside highway 10 in Saudi Arabia – 140 miles of straight blacktop with only a slight bend near the Emirati border.

– Most crooked road – Lombard Street in San Francisco still retains that honor according to the Guinness World Record Book – it’s 8 hairpin turns equal 1,440 degrees of curved road in only 400 meters, and it has a mandatory 5 mph speed limit.

– Longest road – the Pan American Highway that links both North and South American except for a 100 km distance called the Darien Gap – the approximate length is 48,000 km or 29,826 miles.

– Oldest road – a stone paved road in a desolate corner of Egypt linking a basalt quarry to a waterway for transportation – estimates put it at 4,600 years old.

The Roads

I stand on the windy uplands among the hills of Down
With all the world spread out beneath, meadow and sea and town,
And ploughlands on the far-off hills that glow with friendly brown.

And ever across the rolling land to the far horizon line,
Where the blue hills border the misty west, I see the white roads twine,
The rare roads and the fair roads that call this heart of mine.

I see them dip in the valleys and vanish and rise and bend
From shadowy dell to windswept fell, and still to the West they wend,
And over the cold blue ridge at last to the great world’s uttermost end.

And the call of the roads is upon me, a desire in my spirit has grown
To wander forth in the highways, ‘twixt earth and sky alone,
And seek for the lands no foot has trod and the seas no sail has known:

For the lands to the west of the evening and east of the morning’s birth,
Where the gods unseen in their valleys green are glad at the ends of the earth
And fear no morrow to bring them sorrow, nor night to quench their mirth.

C.S.Lewis

Create a backyard treasure hunt using clues that require compass readings or rely on cardinal directions – north, south , east, west.

To make a map for players to follow print out an online Google maps picture of your yard (or park – wherever you choose to do this). Use a colored pen to mark compass points on the map so that players can orient themselves to their surroundings.

Keep instructions simple.

You can create a map for each player, leading to an individual treasure, or divide players up into teams for a team treasure hunt.

Players can use a compass, a GPS device, or phone to point them in the right direction, or if they are especially observant, their own observations of the sun.

When the treasure has been found, challenge the players to create their own treasure map. Trade maps with another player and follow the clues to a new treasure.

Favorite treasures at our house have been edibles packed in Ziplocs, but a close second was a plaster of paris turtle my mother painted in garish colors that could be buried and reburied a hundred times without altering its appearance.