Wild Signs and Star Paths: Key #13, The Edge and Musit

[kylec]

This series is an exploration of the works of Tristan Gooley. I’ll document my efforts to learn to read nature’s signs. If you enjoy reading, I encourage you to support the author by purchasing a copy of Wild Sings and Star Paths (UK) or The Nature Instinct (US). I’m in no way affiliated with the author, nor do I profit from sales of the book.

Last Week’s Work

To notice the differences in light, sound, wind, and other signs that show the thinning of the woods to an open area.

New World

I’ve been slacking on this series for a few weeks, partly due to having covid, and partly because I just never got the chance to get into the woods and find this sign. It’s 30 or 45 minutes for me to be covered by trees, which is not unreasonable, but just enough to feel impractical. So my description of this sign will lack the insight of personal experience, though I’ve been in plenty of woods before an certainly remember what Gooley describes.

The denser the trees, the darker it is. That means we can use variations in light to sense, far before we encounter, breaks in the forest. Light erupts before we encounter a clearing or a meadow. We may see a line of it as we approach a road, a trail, a firebreak, or any disruption in the foliage. This is important because dense woods shield out a great many of the most reliable signs for natural navigation. We lack the shadows, the wind, an the effect that sun and breeze have on the land. There’s little in the understory to guide us. A patch of light can lead us to open sky, where we might catch the angle of the sun, a few stars at night, or the wind direction in the passing clouds. It also leads us out of the woods.

The effect isn’t limited to light, and Gooley points out that both animals and people who are immersed in the woods can begin to lose depth to their sight. Other senses become paramount. Sound can also be a strong indicator of a clearing. A marked increase in birdsong from a single direction probably points to an area where the birds have access to open space. Animals decrease in number in deep woods just as in the deep ocean. Life thrives at the margins.

We can also use lichens on trees, though there are a great many species and it’s hard to make sweeping statements. But diverse and bright clusters of lichens on bark are there for a reason. They prefer sun, and so often occur on the south side of the tree, though it can be whichever side gets the most sunlight. A trend of increasing lichens more or less on the same side of the trees will point us towards more light even if there isn’t any at the moment, and probably lead us south (just remember that when you’re looking at them, you’re facing north if they follow the usual pattern).

I found during my quarantine that light has a way of opening up a claustrophobic space and drawing us out. I wanted nothing more than to stare out windows, or when the house was empty, leave my room, even go for a walk outside. The activity of light and sound heralds the end of confinement and the beginning of connection.

Key #13: The Edge and Musit

As mentioned, life prefers edges. It could be the border of land and sea, or a river; the edge of a backroad; where woods meet open ground. Many more species of plants and animals thrive at edges, and they can be as large as a coastline or as small as a thinly worn game trail. My goal this week is to first, notice edges in all their sizes and forms. Then, to notice what life is more common at these edges than the middle of either side. Do I see more plants and animals? More tracks? Time spent at the edges is time more likely to yield interesting observations.

The musit, derived from the same word as muse, refers to a hole or passage in hedges or dense brush through which small animals prefer to pass. These holes may be natural, or forged by travel, and likely both. When we find a musit, which is at an edge of course, we are more likely to see rabbits, possum, birds, and the like.

Comments

[boccaderlupo]

I have definitely noticed these in my times in the woods, although I never articulated it in this fashion. Of particular interest is the sound distortion (there are times where it seems as though one can heart the density of the trees), but also when it comes to running water, which is always a useful "audio marker" in the forest. Sometimes the proximity of that sound is difficult to gauge.

Hope you are on the mend and axé

[kylec]

All better now, thank you.

Sound is a great marker that Gooley discusses at length elsewhere. It's so tough because every gradient and tree can dim or block it, refract it, etc. But if you suddenly hear something, you can reasonably assume there is no significant barrier between you, which may signal the thinning of the woods, or removal of an unseen obstruction. Distance is hard, but direction to a road or a stream can be a helpful indicator.