Land Snorkeling

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

  • 8/14/2019 Land Snorkeling

    1/5

    Vo l u m e f i Ve n u m b e r t h r e e , t w o t h o u s a n d n i n e | f a l l

    The Price of Gold: Mine Reclamationat the Top of the World

    Max Baucus and the Glareof National Health Care

  • 8/14/2019 Land Snorkeling

    2/5

    56

    FA LL ON THE YELLOWSTONE

    o outside. Walk slow

    tion. Listen. SLook at the soil

    to your stepshine brightes

    Compare birds, the differencand ight pattern. Maybe kickunder there.

    This is land snorkeling. Dalmost anywhere, even if youneighborhood.

    Think of it like snorkelinmysterious turf. You keep yoEverything is cool, so you lo

    wonder. You come back smilinLand snorkeling isnt phiking. It isnt about exercisiits a conscious method of ex

    B Y S C O T T M C M I L L I O N

    P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y T H O M A S L E E

    G

    LandSnorkeliwithClyde A

  • 8/14/2019 Land Snorkeling

    3/5

  • 8/14/2019 Land Snorkeling

    4/5

    60

    A patch of cattails endures in this man-carved waterway,offering mid-town refuge to mallards and red-winged black-birds. I wonder where theyve gone. I give Norman the eyeball.She is named for a favorite uncle and, like him, shes a hunter.

    She rolls over and feigns innocence.I step from the shade of a willow tree and note how the

    sun nourishes thistle and cheatgrass, helping them crowd outthe natives. The cheatgrass is purple, on its way to tawny.

    I stop to snorkel a deciduous tree I have passed a thou-sand times and realize I have never noticed the pale greenlichens on its crusty bark, the array of colors splayed on thecloven trunk. I see now that this ancient tree, if left alone,

    will return to the soil in a process that moves at the speed of alichens appetite.

    Inside the neighbors fence, the lawn is tended. Under theswingset, I see ruts carved by the feet of happy children. This

    YELLOWSTONE FALLS

    tells me that everything has a place.These are things I see, new questions to ponder, and Im

    less than 100 yards from my own door.I return home grinning and pour a bowl of cereal, which

    reminds me of the wheatelds of Aspevigs youth.

    S I L E N T M U S I C

    Thats the essential part, Aspevig had said. To see howintertwined everything is.

    In this 21st century world, dominated by disincentives topay attention a GPS to nd our car in parking lots, cell

    phones that remember all our numbers a concept like landsnorkeling helps connect us to our roots, the landscapes thatshaped our evolution.

    Its nothing new, Aspevig said. Weve been doing itforever.

    Early humans paid attention tdidnt, they died. Either something They knew they were part of nature.

    But as humans evolved, they lleast an awareness of it. They builnature from the self.

    Aspevig, an intellectual but not in ecology and philosophy, music thand anthropology. And he puts some able landscapes, stunning works llties, abstractions combined to createness, something bigger than a photo

    every leaf and stem. Rather, he suggemake them look as t hough they live

    He explains his work in musicIntimate Encounters shows a stanare whole notes. Others are half not

    W I N D R I V E R M O U N TA I N S

  • 8/14/2019 Land Snorkeling

    5/5

    62

    is timbre here, harmony and volume.Some colors stand out.On a piano, youre going to hit that note a little harder, he explained.

    Its a visual form of what I call silent music.The process has been incredibly successful for him, bringing money

    and many awards. His paintings adorn public and private collections aroundthe nation. They fetch tens of thousands of dollars apiece, and the Fine ArtDealers Association says he is considered by many to be the foremost repre-sentational landscape artist of our t imes.

    But this success is made possible by what he calls land snorkeling, thequiet examination of natures details, a practice he started in the wheateldsaround Rudyard.

    An example: Understanding the tensile strength of grass, how it reacts towind and water and light, allows you to paint a better landscape, to let your work sing a true song.

    Yellowstone Vacation Cabins

    Hunting & Fishing Trips Wildlife Photography Snowmobile Groups X Country Skiing / Race Teams Located near World Class trout fisheries:

    Snake River, Madison River, GallatinRiver & more.

    Only 10 minutes t o YellowstoneNational Park

    West Yellowstone, Montana 866-646-1105

    VisitYellowstone

    Stay in West

    C a l l f o r F a l l S p e c i a l s

    I N T I M AT E E N C O U N T E R S

    Clyde Aspevig at his home near Clyde Park.

    Studying natures details gave him a foundation for his success. Now, hes using that success to take landsnorkeling to its logical next step: active conservation.As a board member of the A merican Prairie Foundation,hes working hard to preserve millions of acres of nativeprairie in northeastern Montana.

    Appreciating landscape translates into beingactively involved in landscape and trying to preservewhats left, he said.

    Plus, land snorkeling is fun. Aspevig would like tosee more people doing it, whatever their occupation.

    You can make it as simple or as complex as you like.

    You can use it to better understand the plants in your yard.Or to catch more sh. To be a better hunter or parent or citizen.

    Land snorkeling is about teaching yourself to slowdown and be curious in a world that encourages you tohurry up and let the machines handle things. Its aboutexamining natures works on natures terms.

    And thats an increasingly rare concept. Aspevigwould like to see that change.

    Ask yourself, he said. If you were in college and

    D E A N L A K E

    there was a class called Land Snorkeling take it?

    Y E L L O W S T O N E V I E W YELLO WSTONE VIEW Photographs by Thomas Lee

    YELLOWSA 136 page, hardcover, g

    Enjoy th

    Available at the BozOrder by phone: 800.275.0401 O

    Or in person: 2820 W