![]() If you enlarge the image and start counting, you can easily imagine there being over 100 spider babies with what looks like more partially hidden underneath. The spiderlings will stay with their mother until their first molt I leaned in and was surprised to see this staring up at me. Then, a tiny movement and something pushing under a piece of dead leaf on the ground. I stopped and stared, but saw nothing at first. Just as I revved the motor, I was “distracted” by a slight movement on the ground. I had finished one patch and was walking up toward another. I try to cut it a few times every year as it nears seed set to reduce the amount of seed released back onto the landscape. ![]() Well, a couple of days ago I was on task to weed eat some of the dreaded invasive, Microstegium, along the roadside outside our deer fence. In fact, maybe the tasks and chores I do are the actual distractions and the nature observation is my primary duty. In retirement, I’m not sure I can really call it being distracted. Years later, when I started work as a naturalist for NC State Parks, he remarked how he was amazed I was actually being paid to watch birds (a bit of an oversimplification, but, yes, I did get to observe all sorts of nature on my job). I believe there was some quote like, quit watching them $%$^ birds and get back to nailing. My Dad noticed a lack of hammering in my direction and looked over to see me trying to figure out what bird that was without my binoculars. ![]() It was spring, and warblers were moving through the trees, and now I was up at eye level with them. The property was on a freshwater tidal tributary to the Potomac River and was set in a forested landscape with large trees. I remember a time as a young teenager when I was helping my father nail shingles on the roof of our soon-to-be new home in Stafford County, Virginia. I’m afraid I have a long history of being “distracted” by the natural world. When we’re distracted, we are still paying attention-just not to the task that was the previous still point of our intentional neural processing.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |