I’ve been thinking about writing this for a while (since I noticed…) but now that I am sitting down to write it feels dumb? Obvious?
But let’s do it anyway. Here we go.
Between the daily drawing and the bird watching through the new scope - I’ve realized just how much noticing is required.
When I think about drawing - drawing things - I have to look at the thing and notice the details about the thing. Lots to notice. Shape, angle, color, layers. Perspective, movement, shadows. Noticing how something is - how it’s put together. All the different parts and how they fit together. And then figure out how to use my tools to recreate it all as a drawing.
Noticing. That’s the only word I can think of for it.
Back and forth - between noticing what a thing looks like and then how to recreate a version of it on the page. Back and forth. Back and forth.
Then there’s the birds. Since getting my spotting scope (think a telescope, but not for looking at the moon) the world of what’s available to notice opened up for me. I can set up the scope in the bedroom window and look for birds up to a mile away.
Often times I can spot the white chest of a red-tailed hawk in the bare winter trees and then I set the scope to watch it. That’s one type of noticing. I see it with my naked eye and then set out to notice more.
Even trying to find a bird in the scope takes noticing. I have to identify what tree it’s in, maybe by location or shape or some unique characteristic (like a squirrel drey). Then I have to navigate my way back to that tree, and that bird, through the much smaller lens of the scope. I’m getting better at it, but it takes a kind of noticing to spot.
From there, I get to zoom and focus, and then I get to see the bird. Then a whole other type of noticing starts. What type of bird is it? Does it look like I think it should? What does it look like up close, like for real up close? (Turns out hawks look really different when you can see their faces in detail.) I’m starting to learn all the different parts of a bird, like the anatomy, and I’m practicing noticing all of them when I look at a bird - not just looking at it and seeing bird.
That’s when I see a bird to zoom in on.
There’s a whole different situation of noticing when I am just panning the horizon. I’m amazed at how far and how much I can see through my spotting scope. The world out the window used to look just one way - what I could see with my eyes - what I’ve seen out these windows for the past seven years.
But with the scope I can see further and in more detail than I could ever imagine. Sometimes I scan the horizon to see what I can see. Hunting tents. The signs on the bridge over the creek. Bald eagles really far away sitting on bare trees. Details on power poles.
And then there’s the amazing things to notice in the distance.
Like when it finally warmed up and the dead mammal sitting in the field finally thawed (maybe a skunk, maybe a cat) every bird of prey in town came to have a snack, and I got to watch them all. It started with a juvenile bald eagle, sometimes standing on top of the prey. Then it was joined by another juvenile bald eagle. They hopped around together, sharing, waiting - and I got to notice it all. And you can see in the exceptionally blurry photos below.
The red-tailed hawk sat on a pole a half mile away and watched. It waited for a break and took a swipe at the carcass.
But then a mature bald eagle came in and took it’s turn snacking too. Standing on top, pulling off meat. Hopping from one side to the next side. Then a brave crow stopped by. It hopped all around. It looked sassy. It was acting sassy. I can’t explain how, it just was. But it wasn’t brave enough to continue to pester the big bald eagle.
Perhaps it would be boring if I wasn’t interested in noticing. There’s just so much to see. See and noticing turns into learning. It’s all pushed by curiosity.
I was planning to end the noticing thoughts there, but then over the weekend the snow thawed and it was sunny and warm and felt like spring. I walked all the routes I haven’t traversed since the fall: through the garden, around the side garden. Refill the bird feeders. Checking the garden behind the cottage. So many things to notice.
With the thaw of the snow, it was possible to see all the work the moles and the voles were doing under the snow. Can you see those pathways carved in the grass below? Little mammals living their little mammal lives under the snow. Hard not to notice - because I know these little guys are doing some sort of damage in the nearby gardens.
And then maybe the most exciting seasonal noticing. With the blanket of snow gone, it felt possible that winter might actually end and spring might actually arrive. (It’s amazing how much I forget about what’s to come when the snow is covering it all.) The first shoots of the early peonies peeking above ground. I know now they are sturdy enough to withstand any more frost or freeze or snow. And also to know how much joy they are going to bring in three months or so. I forgot about all of this noticing to come.
So there it is. Noticing.
I send you good wishes for noticing this week. That you have interesting things to notice. That you have a calm and quiet mind to spend time looking into something you’ve seen forever and can notice new details about it.
Tell me about what you are noticing this week.
(Also, I did not take the time to notice if there were typos. NO PROOFIES!)
Listening: Radiolab, Time is Honey
Reading: still true by Maggie Ginsberg
Watching: Law and Order, we’re up to Season 8
Noticing: See above :)
Tidbit: Occasionally when sitting on the sofa, Roux will put her head on my arm or hand or leg - and the fall sound asleep. It’s the kind of thing when you just don’t want to move and disturb her. We call this ‘being held hostage’ and it’s the best.
Closing
🦅vanessa