Aldous Leopold called the dates that he saw various plants in first bloom “birthdays.”
Tell me of what plant-birthdays a man takes notice, and I shall tell you a good deal about his vocation, his hobbies, his hay fever, and the general level of his ecological education.
In other words: If you know what kinds of things a person notices in the woods, you know the person.
The last few days, I’ve been catching up with my notebook from recent walks in the forests near Stone Mountain and Arabia Mountain. To most folks, it’s just dull science.
To me, it’s something different, a record of the shortcomings of the observer, and more generally the person. Perhaps this is what it’s like to be on the analyst’s couch.
• Source: Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac; New York: Ballentine Books, 1982, p. 48.
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