Transcript
Hello...
I am on the hillside listening to two coveys of quail call back and forth
They've been slowly getting closer over the last 15 minutes, and I think they're going to link up
I saw one group
They had a bunch of fluffy little hatchlings running around
I don't know how big the other group is though
I'm below a range of mountains with snow and avalanche gullies, forests up the sides, larch and fir, ponderosa pine
Ah, wow, a western tanager just landed in a pine tree
I haven't seen one yet this year
That was cool
They're bright, bright orange, bright red, yellow, golden, crazy looking birds
Probably the most brilliant bird in the west maybe
I guess there's lazuli buntings out here too
Or is it indigo buntings?
....that quail is trying to get the other quails to come over
There's boulders on this hillside, and one of my favorite tea plants which is wild tarragon
I gathered about eight stems of it just now
It's a good spot for it
There's a bunch of plants
It's nice to be here
I feel like my mind is already clearing out from the dampness of the coastal, humid, cold Salish Sea
Up here in the high mountains, a divergent part of the Rockies above a big lake
On a glacial moraine
I guess I wanted to offer this today as just kind of way of saying of thanks to people
Everybody that's supported me over the years
Everyone who listens to this podcast
I guess these quail are listening to it right now
I just feel really grateful
I'm kind of a recovering pessimist, you know, so a lot of that has to do with gratitude
Pessimism is kind of this idea that there's no safety. Or that things are never going to really be what you want
And the opposite of that, obviously, is gratitude for what you have
Which is actually simple, but for a pessimistic mind, it's harder than it might seem
And there's a lot to say about pessimism
It definitely comes from damage
Definitely comes from pain
It's definitely a protective mechanism
But I feel like I'm growing less and less pessimistic as time goes on, which kind of relieves a huge burden on a person
I heard a meadowlark this morning as I was running
Discovered some physiological linkages between my lumbar and knee that have to do with nerves
Researched this type of technique called prickly...prickling nerve stimulation technique, which is developed by a Japanese neurosurgeon
And it's a technique that's used to stimulate the nerves in the lumbar spine
Which is developed by a Japanese neurosurgeon
Neurologist named Dr
Nagata, I think
Basically, it's the idea that our skin is a direct door of access to our nervous system
Which means that we wear our nervous system on our sleeves
Which is something to remember, as sensitive humans
I think we're all very sensitive, actually
Unless we've been damaged to the point where we've been able to turn it off, or we've learned how to turn it off, or have been in a mode of having it shut off
And it's really fascinating to note that there can be healing in the skin and in the tissues, just by stimulating the nerves around areas of trauma
And it's interesting to note that, more or less, that's what acupuncture functions on, to access the meridians and the internal organs as well
Kind of working with the nervous system in a lot of ways
I kind of see these quail as part of the Earth's nervous system
As showing what the weather's doing, and where the good grass seeds and the insects are right now
It's quiet here, I like it
It's easy to get away, just be in a quiet space that feels really big
I like that
I like to be able to wander
It feels like it clears my mind
It's starting to rain a little bit
And I've run out of things to say
I'm gonna walk down this draw and back to the van and head into town, get some groceries and finish settling in to my friend's house where I'll be for the summer doing rangeland surveys out here until I go to school in the fall
Got a condo in Victoria
Everything's lining up it seems
I feel really lucky
Thank you for your support, and thank you for listening.
