How do you begin to achieve deep knowledge of the landscape you inhabit? The naturalist’s first step, I think, is to take a walk. And then another walk…and then another.

Roam around until you find a place that captures your imagination.

Identify a place that you can really study. Perhaps you have a favorite spot already – a nearby wetland or meadow, or your own backyard. In cities or suburbs, a park can be a good choice.

Or maybe you’re like me – temperamentally disinclined to focus. I was one of those voracious kids who wanted to know everything about everyplace…and in some ways I never grew up. Here’s a method I found useful in choosing, at least provisionally, a place to study: Roam at will. Out the back door, up the road, over the hill. Visit lots of places, to see what you can see.

Over time, perhaps, you’ll feel a tug toward a certain place or a particular body of water. It might not be the most beautiful spot or the most pristine. It might instead be the place that rouses a faint nostalgia or stirs your curiosity: What mammals made those tracks? Where does this water come from? Which birds built these nests?

My own preference is to study rivers. A river is like a story that keeps re-writing itself, so there is always something new to read. Furthermore, I can focus (usually) on a limited area, but sometimes range all over the map, so to speak, and consider the river as a whole.

Above all, I want a place that’s both fascinating and fun, and I hope you’re able to find such a place, too.

In the coming months, we will look at tools and resources that are useful in learning about a landscape. But most of what we learn will come from our senses: the sounds carried on the wind, the smell of flowers and trees, the firmness or softness of the soil beneath our feet, and the subtle changes that become visible to those who pay close, sustained attention. That’s what it means to know a place.

On that note, it’s time for me to take a walk.