
On Sitting Still in Nature - Vigier
https://lithub.com/wear-your-stillness-as-disguise-on-sitting-still-in-nature/
======
_bxg1
> Once you’ve had enough practice at sitting still, you learn to care and not
> to care. Of course you care about seeing the next otter, the next
> kingfisher, the next badger, but on the other hand, you don’t really care if
> you don’t see one at all. Being there is what counts.

I've found the same is true of open-ended imagination. Which, it so happens, I
tend to find by sitting in nature.

------
hprotagonist
It's always worth re-reading Annie Dillard; "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" does a
very good treatment of such things.

~~~
byproxy
Probably my favorite writer, and "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" sits right behind
"For the Time Being" as my favorite thing she's written.

~~~
hprotagonist
Auden’s oratorio of the same name is also well worth your time.

------
dekhn
Deer and skunks are both completely oblivious to things going on around them.
I've sat around in a park and just watched deer and skunks walk by me without
even being aware until I make a noise

~~~
ivanhoe
In a park it might seem that way because they've learned you're not a treat to
them. Run into deer in woods where there's hunters and predators, a different
story... you probably will not even see them ever, unless they accidentally
run into you sitting super still and down the wind from them

~~~
dekhn
Have to disagree. First, I was actually in the woods (it's a park with woods
attached). Second, I see deer constantly, even when I'm not sitting still (I
can't really tell if I'm upwind, I've never really paid close enough
attention). They're not really that skittish around here (norcal) or where I
grew up (suburban CT).

Even when I was deep in the woods (many places) I've come across deer over and
over. They just don't seem to be really aware, like squirrels or birds, who
seem to be on a constant hair-trigger.

~~~
acollins1331
Deep woods animals located in hunting areas during hunting season are
absolutely skittish, including deer. If it’s hunting season and they get a
whiff of you on the wind you will not see them. At the same time deer in parks
you can walk right up to. It’s dependent on the environment, it’s not that
deer don’t care and don’t see you.

------
johnmaguire2013
This is also the key to hunting.

~~~
mastry
That it is. It's also the most enjoyable part, in my opinion.

~~~
acheron9383
That was my experience even as a kid hunting deer. Sitting in one spot in the
woods for a whole day (predawn to dusk) really changes the woods as the
animals forget about you. Bringing a book helped as well to stave off complete
boredom. But putting the book down and just watching is very meditative. The
rifle is almost there as an excuse.

