Thursday October1st, 2026 An October Evening Nine Years Past

 A day of outdoor work done, I st upon the upside down jonboat to listen-in the night, something I haven't done for quite awhile. It used to be I'd get an opportunity to sit outdoors as the sun webt down, in some inconspicuous place. It was an evening of observation, a passive interaction with nature of some spontaneity and commonly done at home. 

 

I am fortunate to live in NW Minnesota on a quarter section of forested land with two diagonally-opposite waterways; Johnson Creek on the NW corner, and Mikinaak Creek on it SE, intersecting it. They quietly meander through wetlands bordered with deciduous and conifer trees; some that our families planted over 40 years ago; and some others well over a hundred years old perhaps, given how short the growing seasons have been around here , historically. Beaver have dammed the Mikinaak for centuries, as the land formations indicate, backing up its water levels along its length, stalling its northern flow into the south fork of the Roseau River beaver dams have created habitat for North American water fowl and wildlife on and along its waterway.

 

Who listens to the earth as night descends? Not those in houses sitting in front of television sets nor those whose attention are riveted on their smart phone screens or desktop computers. nor in traffic stopped those many minutes in commutes although the stars are overhead, nor bicyclists, nor truckers 'rolling down the eastern seaboard' are listening to anything originally pure.

 

So it is I take advantage of the opportunity when my work is done to 'listen the night in.' Someplace where I can simply be as night comes in and listen to every small sound around me, very near and very far, no matter their generation, natural or man-made, for its not so much what you can hear as it is the act of passive listening; not existing as anymore then another object in a landscape of inanimate objects, breathing in, breathing out -- although I do, on occasion, drink a bottle r two of beer (but very quietly). 

 

So as a rural person, upon your arrival home, or very near it, at the close of evening or as an urban dweller in your one safely quiet spot outdoors, purposely take the time to just listen even if you're hard of hearing, for listening and observing naturally go together if one practices.