Your exploration of touch as a gateway to a deeper connection with place resonates powerfully with the practice of mindful presence. When you described pressing your cheek against the ash tree's bark, it reminded me of how often we rush through spaces without truly experiencing them. I think there’s profound wisdom in pausing to engage fully with our surroundings – whether natural or human-made.
Thank you for this thoughtful reminder to slow down and truly feel the world around us. And thanks for planting the seed to incorporate more sensory perceptions into my writing.
Thank you for your thoughts on this post, Jack. It is a beautiful thing to connect with our environment on a physical level. If only we could do more of this. In our busy lives today, we rely very much on sight and sound, and not so much on touch.
In the space of one week I have felt varied sensations underfoot, as the temperature has fluctuated widely. Sub zero temperatures produced frost that crisped the grass, but freezing rain turned every hard surface into a skating rink. Then we had a couple of inches of snow, which was glorious to walk on when fresh. But it soon turned to rain-sodden slush, which froze into hard ruts overnight. Now everything is slick with rain again, with soft mud and splashy puddles.
We are so lucky to have seasonal change and variable weather, it gives us plenty to think and write about. Thanks for sharing your experience of the cold weather. I haven't yet seen snow this winter but I'm sure it will come.
I know the focus was on touch in this piece - and I do agree about how that can bring additional depth and richness to (particularly) the experience of woods - but the tastes of the woods are magical too! Although licking the moss or the bark maybe a tongue-step too far, at various times of the year you can find edible delicacies you can try there and then - chewing wood-sorrel and wild garlic leaves, fresh lime-tree flowers, young Hawthorn leaves and buds, wild raspberries and of course blackberries. Or other flavours you can take home to dry for teas or cordials, or to cook - Rowan berries, nettle leaves for soup, elderflowers and their berries, mallow, meadowsweet, fungi (if you know what you're doing!), hazel nuts - so you can re-taste the woods out of season! All providing another dimension to the place you've enjoyed.
Hi Yasmin, as we drove through Mexico early on, the entire drive was like a sensory immersion. One of our early stops was in Catemaco, on the MX Gulf Coast--the witches' town. The drive up to it was an immersion into lush jungle. Here's link. https://mexicosoul.substack.com/p/witchcraft-sorcerers-and-magic-thrive
Thanks so much! I love knowing about Place Writing!!! In my 2 novels set in the Yucatán, one review (which I was super happy about) said the environment/landscape was as much a 'person' as the characters. I'm totally in love with the area, so guess it came through. Appreciate your comments!
I’ve naturally have done this in so many places I’ve visited. Touch and ancient tree in the Seqs or a Roman ruin, and feel the energy from the past. ✨✨✨
Your exploration of touch as a gateway to a deeper connection with place resonates powerfully with the practice of mindful presence. When you described pressing your cheek against the ash tree's bark, it reminded me of how often we rush through spaces without truly experiencing them. I think there’s profound wisdom in pausing to engage fully with our surroundings – whether natural or human-made.
Thank you for this thoughtful reminder to slow down and truly feel the world around us. And thanks for planting the seed to incorporate more sensory perceptions into my writing.
Thank you for your thoughts on this post, Jack. It is a beautiful thing to connect with our environment on a physical level. If only we could do more of this. In our busy lives today, we rely very much on sight and sound, and not so much on touch.
In the space of one week I have felt varied sensations underfoot, as the temperature has fluctuated widely. Sub zero temperatures produced frost that crisped the grass, but freezing rain turned every hard surface into a skating rink. Then we had a couple of inches of snow, which was glorious to walk on when fresh. But it soon turned to rain-sodden slush, which froze into hard ruts overnight. Now everything is slick with rain again, with soft mud and splashy puddles.
We are so lucky to have seasonal change and variable weather, it gives us plenty to think and write about. Thanks for sharing your experience of the cold weather. I haven't yet seen snow this winter but I'm sure it will come.
I know the focus was on touch in this piece - and I do agree about how that can bring additional depth and richness to (particularly) the experience of woods - but the tastes of the woods are magical too! Although licking the moss or the bark maybe a tongue-step too far, at various times of the year you can find edible delicacies you can try there and then - chewing wood-sorrel and wild garlic leaves, fresh lime-tree flowers, young Hawthorn leaves and buds, wild raspberries and of course blackberries. Or other flavours you can take home to dry for teas or cordials, or to cook - Rowan berries, nettle leaves for soup, elderflowers and their berries, mallow, meadowsweet, fungi (if you know what you're doing!), hazel nuts - so you can re-taste the woods out of season! All providing another dimension to the place you've enjoyed.
Yes, Liz, the tastes too. I like the idea of re-tasting... this really blows my mind.
Thank you for your thoughts, you bring memories to the conversation as well as ideas for future research.
Hi Yasmin, as we drove through Mexico early on, the entire drive was like a sensory immersion. One of our early stops was in Catemaco, on the MX Gulf Coast--the witches' town. The drive up to it was an immersion into lush jungle. Here's link. https://mexicosoul.substack.com/p/witchcraft-sorcerers-and-magic-thrive
Your posts bring places to life, Jeanine. And I'm loving your photographs. Thanks for your support here.
Thanks so much! I love knowing about Place Writing!!! In my 2 novels set in the Yucatán, one review (which I was super happy about) said the environment/landscape was as much a 'person' as the characters. I'm totally in love with the area, so guess it came through. Appreciate your comments!
I’ve naturally have done this in so many places I’ve visited. Touch and ancient tree in the Seqs or a Roman ruin, and feel the energy from the past. ✨✨✨