From Walking:
“But the walking of which I speak has nothing in it akin to taking exercise, as it is called, as the sick take medicine at stated hours – as the Swinging of dumb-bells or chairs; but is itself the enterprise and adventure of the day. If you would get exercise, go in search of the springs of life. Think of a man swinging dumb-bells for his health, when those springs are bubbling up in far-off pastures unsought by him! Moreover, you must walk like a camel, which is said to be the only animal which ruminates while walking.”

– Henry David Thoreau

Let me first say that we are not in the habit of chewing regurgitated roughage during our Saunters. That is not the kind of chewing or walking that Thoreau prescribes. Rather, we saunter. That is, we walk with intention but without agenda. The goal is not exercise, but we do get that along the way. Neither do we intend to botanize, but we usually learn some plants along the way. Butterflies and birds accompany us whether we want them to or not. And uninvited bits of philosophy surprise us. These are all wonderful, but not the reasons we saunter. If you join us this Saturday morning, you will discover why we saunter and exactly what we’re chewing and ruminating.

We’ll meet at 0730 on Saturday, July 26 in front of the barn at Hitchcock Nature Center in Honey Creek, Iowa. We’ll be in the bush from 0800 to 1000, so bring water, wear long pants and sturdy shoes, and apply bug and sun protection. You may also want to bring binoculars and field guides. Please let me know if you’re coming (Jack at 402.571.7460/ jackphillipsrca@gmail.com). Read Thoreau’s essay Walking again or for the first time to prepare. You will easily find it free on Kindle or Google, or linked in previous posts below.

(There is no tuition for our Saunter series, but we do encourage a one-time contribution of $20 to help our programs.)