Painted Rocks and Native Plants

Or, paying attention.

There is a local trail nearby, where my husband and I like to hike on the weekends with our dog. On New Year’s Day this year, our trail, along with many trails in all fifty states,¹ advertised a First Day Hike. The incentive to participate was a scavenger hunt for rocks painted especially for the First Day Hike. I was amused by the idea — a scavenger hunt in the woods is an actual adventure, as opposed to a scavenger hunt for candy canes in a very small bar area at a work Christmas party.²

When my husband and I hike, it tends to be more of a speed walking obstacle course. He and the dog charge ahead, and I sort of stumble along in their wake, concentrating on the ground immediately in front of and beneath me, so as not to trip over roots or slip on wet leaves into a ravine. It’s still fun this way, I swear. Plus, if you can get far enough before you start to lose daylight, there is an opportunity to cross a waterway on a neat little ferry using only a rope and the strength of your arms.

My sister joined us for the First Day Hike and we all agreed to participate in the painted rock scavenger hunt. This meant we would need to keep our eyes on not only the ground immediately in front of us, but also the brush and the crevices of boulders and the cavernous root systems of felled trees to look for painted rocks in hiding.

The first half of the journey was primarily speed hiking (my husband honestly can’t help himself and the dog is not much better), but eventually we slowed down enough to look for unusual colors in the woods.

One thing that people who are not from the East Coast of the United States observe about our woods is their density. The trees are thinner and scrappier than on the West Coast, all seeming to jostle for the same air and soil, branches clawing at each other, reaching for each other, embracing each other. Moving at a brisk pace while watching the path ahead and searching for colorful rocks in the periphery of the surrounding woods was almost dizzying.

Once we slowed enough to take in more of our surroundings, we managed to find two painted rocks. My husband found the cemetery rock pictured below, and my sister found a stone painted with a bright orange and black Oriole.

The somewhat obvious lesson here is that only when we slow down enough to pay attention are we able to notice something special or out of the ordinary. Anne Lamott emphasizes the importance of paying attention in her seminal “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.”³⁴ We cannot really write without paying attention.

Lately, I have been trying to do just that. I’m taking a creative writing class and one of the assignments is to keep a “noticing” notebook. It’s a beautiful exercise; a reverent⁵ way of moving through each day. Pay attention. Write it down. Remember that little thing that was funny or beautiful or strange. Make note of that thing that moved you.

Paying attention and finding connection

Another reason I’m trying to pay attention is that I have become convinced we can’t afford not to; that it is long past time to start paying close attention to our environment and attending to it in whatever ways we can.

My immediate environment is the half-acre of land where my house sits. My husband and I have lived here now for one summer, one fall, and one winter. I planted a few vegetables last summer, rushing to clear out the dilapidated raised beds that came with the house and get a few vegetables in the ground before summer really got going. I’m hoping to do more this year, but I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew, and it seems we are always busier than we thought we would be. Time is always getting away.

Nonetheless, I am taking my time, and paying attention. I plan to introduce more native plants to the yard and learn about identifying and removing invasive species. I want to be a good steward of this little piece of land. In that spirit, I attended a talk by the local Master Gardeners at the library this weekend. We learned about native plants and their benefits, how to grow from seed and why, and where to find local resources for native plants and seed banks. Then, we planted native seeds in small containers to take home with us.

A soft-spoken man with a shy smile and a low ponytail gave away fat, brown pawpaw seeds that he had brought with him in a plastic grocery bag. Just plant ‘em somewhere boggy, he said. His face lit up when he described the smell of fallen pawpaws on the ground. I helped a woman download a recommended planting guide on her cell phone. She was wearing bright red lipstick and said she was a hairdresser, new to the county. She showed us a photo of her empty side yard and one of the Gardeners helped her select flowers of complimentary colors to plant in it.

The Master Gardeners giving the presentation seemed stern and serious at first. I may have been (I was) gently reprimanded by the small, grey-headed woman at the front of the room for (quietly!) getting up to pour myself some coffee at the beginning of her talk. But once they had turned the lights back on and we all began to move about — asking questions, putting our hands in dirt, talking about our yards and what kind of sunlight we got throughout the day — the Gardeners were enthusiastic and kind and clearly delighted to be teaching people about plants. They told us: Mother Nature knows what to do. It’s just when we interfere in some way that we must learn how to help her along.

The feeling in the room was warm and communal, and I returned home feeling restored, with dirt under my fingernails and a tray of what I hope will soon become colorful pollinators in my yard. All of us strangers in the library meeting room that morning were brought together by our common interest in paying attention; in tending; in learning how to take better care. It felt good to be there together.

This week, I will be paying attention to the ordinary things that move me and making sure to keep my little seeds misted and in the sunlight. I’d love to hear what you have been paying attention to lately, or how you plan to pay attention in the coming week!

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If you’re interested in paying more attention and learning about possible ways to take better care of the environment, I recommend following

Jason Anthony

’s

Field Guide to the Anthropocene

. In this article, he offers some practical, cheap or free suggestions, and says:

So why not fly your lawn’s freak flag? It simplifies your life, connects you more deeply to the species that surround you, and puts a little local dent into the Anthropocene.⁶

We all do what we can, and what makes the most sense for us, and for where we live, of course. I am learning and trying and failing as I go. One thing we can all do is at least open our minds to other possible ways of being in the world and imagine something different.

1. https://americanhiking.org/first-day-hikes/

2. An actual event in which I declined to participate, in favor of quiet conversation and nursing a beer while the “fun” people squeezed behind our bench and under tables to see who could find the most shrink-wrapped mini candy canes.

3. Lamott, Anne. 1980. “Looking Around.” Bird by Bird. New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group.

4. Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase through this link.

5. Lamott also discusses her thoughts on reverence and writing in the “Looking Around” chapter of Bird by Bird. Lamott. 1980. Bird by Bird.

6. Eighteen Ways of Looking at the Anthropocene: Part One