There is as yet no ethic dealing with man’s relation to land, and to the animals and plants which grow upon it. Land … is still property. The land-relation is still strictly economic, entailing privileges but not obligations.
— Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, p. 203
It has been my privilege to travel, to see a lot of country, and in those travels I have learned of several ways to become intimate with the land, ways I try to practice. I remember a Nunamiut man at Anaktuvuk Pass in the Brooks Range in Alaska named Justus Mekiana. I was there working on a book and I asked him what he did when he went into a foreign landscape. He said, “I listen.”
And a man named Levine Williams, a Koyukon Athapaskan, who spoke sternly to a friend, after he had made an innocent remark about how intelligent people were, saying to him, “Every animal knows way more than you do.”
— Barry Lopez, The Rediscovery of North America, p. 35
Look around your ’ili and identify some of the animals that live there: the birds, mongoose, feral cats or others. Pick one, two or three and describe them. Wild animals often develop patterns in where they go and what they do at specific times each day. Describe what you observe about their daily routines. Wild animals also have individual personalities. Describe what you observe of the traits of the animals.
ALTERNATE OPTION
Compare and contrast the most developed and the least developed areas of your querencia.
A FOCUS FOR LAND JOURNAL #4
Avoid
The passive voice (Eric was hit by a ball.)
Include
Active voice (A ball hit Eric).