Stephen Phillips Vision Walk 12/5/17
I found myself sitting high on a branch, in an ancient oak tree, watching rabbits playfully chase each other in the early morning sun. I am so grateful for my experience in the vision walk at the Fairfield Osborne Preserve on Sunday. I will quickly describe the great significance taking a quiet reflection day in the woods was for me, then describe the highlights of my day, and conclude with my final thoughts on the experience. I was immediately interested when I heard that the graduate students were looking for volunteers to participate in a nature vision walk revolving around the medicine wheel. Bill Plotkin is a depth psychologist who wrote a book I read last semester called “Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche.” I became interested in his work and continued to read his books. He writes about the importance of getting out into the wilderness and exploring the physical terrain as you would the terrain of your soul. Plotkin also uses the medicine wheel as a guide to finding unity with the universe. I have found myself in a very good, yet difficult place. I am beginning my senior year at Sonoma State, and therefore looking at getting into graduate school. This means studying for the G.R.E., and then deciding what school will be the best fit for me. The intention that I took going into the vision walk was to get grounded with myself, and then I hoped that I would have a better perspective on my situation. On
When I crossed by the snow covered sign that read “Welcome to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness National Park” and looked at what surrounded me, I was beside myself. I didn’t know that trees could ever be so beautiful. The towering trees were the perfect shade of dark emerald green, and the way the snow piled on them looked like painting. I thought I was living a fairytale. It was the most beautiful sight I have ever laid eyes on.
Colorado, known for the Rocky Mountains, is a gorgeous place to be. The wildlife filled rectangular state covers 104,185 square miles. In the black timber, it is dark and silent, not a sound to be heard. The pine trees are so thick it blocks most of the sunlight from entering, only to see about seventy-five yards in front of myself. The terrain is rough and almost straight up and down, but the elk love it because it is a challenge for hunters to see them. As I walk my favorite ridgeline in the black timber, I watch for the slightest movement and listen for the smallest crack. Watching thirteen-lined ground squirrels run around and chase each other can be humorous sometimes to watch them fall down from the trees. I wait patiently for the chance
The enchanted forest pulsed in, it’s ancient heartbeat, the deep, haunting song sweeping through the swaying leaves. The woody incense of thousands of leaves and branches matting the forest floor filled the air and dominated our nostrils. Soon, the branches will bend to the will of the whispering wind, allowing the sun to fill every nook and cranny with its the lustrous, golden light, illuminating the full grandeur of a forest that is steeped in plushness and opulence. But for now, the sprawling limbs of centuries-old trees still guarded the darkness, blotting out most of the gentle rays of dawn’s light.
So her trek into the woods was to kill an elk, like she had done with her father. However, it was the encounter with two older men, who assisted in gutting out the elk, that she had learned the most. “Did this make them somehow, distinctly like… fathers and daughter? The two men becoming the soil then, in their burial, as had her father- becoming as still and silent as stone.” Here, the connection between human interaction, and experiences with nature is shown vividly.
The sun was glistening through the tall, swaying pines. To the right of the trail, a gentle river flowed softly down towards the mouth of the lake. Walking across the rickety wooden bridge, I inhaled a deep breath of refreshingly crisp mountain air. The sun beat down on me as I made my way across the bridge and back onto the well-used hiking trail. The ambient sounds of chirping birds, babbling water, and the croaks of several frogs filled my ears as I made my way around the bend. As I entered the mouth of the forest, I could see my father standing in the middle of the path, glancing upwards, taking in the beauty that had began to engulf us. “We better get going.” he said, looking back at me. “There’s still many miles to go.” I smiled and turned, taking in one last view of the beautiful creekside. Then, with determination, we set out to finish the challenging trek we had started.
Captured from the top of the Daniel Boone National Forest, located in northeastern Kentucky near the city of Morehead, this featured image originates in one of the most beautiful and well kept secrets on earth. Although this location is breathtaking, efforts to capture images from the summit will certainly involve a bit hiking and climbing, but it’s definitely worth the journey. Whether it’s photography or purely for the love of a great hike, I can’t see anyone regretting making this trip. Regardless of the agenda, a striking and tranquil retreat awaits the willing adventurer.
The first time I every experience the Wildcat Hills was during a difficult time in my life. My parents were going through a custody battle over my siblings and me. They were also both in the process of being remarried. So, when my step father brought us to the Wildcats to explore for the first time I realized how amazing our earth can be. Here in the county known for the Scotts Bluff National Monument, sits over 1,000 acres of land. It wasn’t just the sight at the top of the escarpment that took my breath away. It was the fact that whether you were at the bottom of the hills or the top, when the wind blew that’s all you can hear. It isn’t overwhelming, it is
The scenes journey along the Appalachian Trail captures the true magnificence and greatness of the eastern U.S. of wilderness. Starting in the Deep South at the foothills of the smoky mountains, this journey overwhelms one with southern beauty while also making one experience the South’s legendary simplicity and retreat from the urban gridlock of modern society. The Appalachian Trail’s scenery attracts many people from all over the world to witness it for them. Causing many people to come with their families and possibly volunteer.
After a long mountainous drive, I arrived at my destination to embrace one of nature’s wonders in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park, Abram Falls Trail. Upon departing the car, a cool crisp breeze brushed my face and the aroma of bacon lingered in the early morning air from the neighboring campground. The narrow rocky footpath looked like a tedious adventure, however a gorgeous, vibrant array of red, purple, orange, and yellow wildflowers blossoming at the entrance made the trail alluring. Navigating the rocky, uneven terrain required sturdy footing, but the quiet stillness created a peaceful relaxing atmosphere. The lush pine-oak forest formed a green canopy of shelter above the trail, offering welcome cool shade, as vivid sunlight filtered through the foliage. A sweet honey fragrance permeated the air, as a stunning scene displayed a cluster of purple and pure white
Our yearly pilgrimage to our deer lease in Menard, Texas starts every year on the first Friday in November. To get there we head four hours north thru the sprawling metropolis of San Antonio, full of its traffic and impatient drivers. Upon leaving the city limits of San Antonio, we head west towards Kerrville and the landscape starts to change drastically. No longer are we driving on flat land but now the car is climbing small hills and the road winds. We drive in this direction until we reach the vast acres of ranch land located on a lonely farm road between the small cities of Junction and Menard. If you drive too fast down the winding road, you will miss the old metal gate that is almost hidden by brush trees. My husband is the hunter, yet I love to come with him, because this is the place, where I disconnect from the fast paced life of city dwelling and feel reconnected once again to nature and I find peace and rest here in this cactus and dirt oasis.
ABSTRACT: The aim of this paper is to defend a broad concept of visual perception, according to which it is a sufficient condition for visual perception that subjects receive visual information in a way which enables them to give reliably correct answers about the objects presented to them. According to this view, blindsight, non-epistemic seeing, and conscious visual experience count as proper types of visual perception. This leads to two consequences concerning the role of the phenomenal qualities of visual experiences. First, phenomenal qualities are not necessary in order to see something, because in the case of blindsight, subjects can see objects without experiences phenomenal
Colorado, known for the Rocky Mountains, is a gorgeous place to be. The rectangular state rich with wildlife, covers 104,185 square miles. In the black timber, it is dark and silent, not a sound to be heard. The thick pine trees block out most of the sunlight, only to see about seventy-five yards. The terrain is brutal, almost straight up and down, but the elk love it because it is a challenge for hunters to see them. As I walk my favorite ridgeline in the black timber, I watch for the slightest movement and listen for the smallest crack. Watching thirteen-lined ground squirrels run around and chase each other can be humorous when they fall down from trees. My adrenaline pumps and heart races at a million miles per hour as I wait patiently
“Okay Reed, time to go!” My dad shouts from the garage. We had everything prepared and packed to go except for the shotgun. My dad and I have been looking at an area of public hunting land that might be good for hunting all kinds of game. We came to that conclusion after seeing a big pond and deep forests on the map. Today was going to be a day full of short lived excitement and disappointment, and I had no clue.
Vision-- receiving and interpreting light signals from the environment in order to form an image in one's mind-- is an incredibly complex process. Somehow signals from photoreceptors located in the eye are converted into the conscious experience of sight. Of all the aspects of vision, perhaps the most difficult for us to comprehend scientifically is this notion of consciousness. Somehow the brain interprets light waves hitting the retina so that we are visually aware of our surroundings. While the mechanism of signal transduction from the photoreceptor through the visual cortex has been extensively elucidated, science has difficulty dealing with the phenomena of consciousness
The sun was still below the horizon but the clouds above the mountains were tainted the color of pomegranates. Around me the shadows seemed empty. I tried not to look into the brush as I walked down the driveway. I had stopped before, looking to see the back of the shadows; staring hard, only to have them retreat from my eyes indefinitely. Invisible birds called from within. Their sound followed me down the driveway and onto the road.