Invisibility2ndJune
As a tracker, I don't like being the center of anything, not the woods, and especially not the world. I don't want to be noticed. I'm in love with how insignificant I know I am. It's called silence. It's called flow. Tracking is blending intimately with what you're listening for, seeing or following. As I track, the only things left are the literal beat of my heart and my breathing.
People will go tracking or take a class with me, and as I walk with them, I become two people. You might see me sipping coffee, cracking jokes and asking useful questions about the animal that left that sign, but that's only one kind of me. The tracker kind of me is slipping far beyond my focus, already compelled down the trail after the cougar whose track we're kneeling by.
A print or sign to me is like a wormhole* that takes me to its animal. No field guide will tell me how to get there, no tracking certificate explains my process; I simply feel what's wild. Does that make me a great tracker? Not necessarily, instead it makes me what I most want to be, invisible.
*shout out to DS9 fans.
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Stealth and guile…
Rangers Guild In partnership with the Primitive Arts Collective our Rangers Guild is proud to offer two classes on stealth and ancient relationships to the land. Each class is a weekend overnight at the Oregon Coast. Meals and lodging provided.
October 16-17 Throwing Arts: The Oldest and Most Effective Hunting Strategy
October 24-26 Stalking, Movement and Camouflage
Disappear into the land...
Our Wilderness Immersion Program offers a free taster day. July 3, come try a day.
