The first week of English 1102 I was assigned to read Seeing by Annie Dillard. From the reading assignment I was asked to venture out to a place to see the uncommon and to write about the seeing. I also needed to consider the addition of using eight quotes from Annie Dillard’s work in my writing.
It seems only the die hard hikers come out on a rainy day to trek up Kennesaw Mountain. The weekends are normally packed with people looking to venture into nature but the parking area still had plenty of places for me to park my car. My thoughts were focused on what I needed to look for or see as I ventured on a hike up a mountain.
The path started out about 10 feet wide and narrowed to about 4 feet and at times just enough room for one person to transverse. “Still, a great deal of light falls on everything.”
As we walked I commented on the strategically placed trees that were ether in the middle of the trail or just on the side as I climbed a rocky area. The trees help with keeping me stable and I think of the quote “We miss a great deal because we perceive only things on our own scale.” Because I only looked to the tree and path and not what was around me.
As I came around a bend of the trail I looked down to the bottom of the mountain and the white contrast of a large estate in the gray and green of the surrounding area was strikingly vivid. Annie Dillard’s quote “...sense impressions of one-celled animals are not edited for the brain: "This is philosophically interesting in a rather mournful way, since it means that only the simplest animals perceive the universe as it is." This helped me consider that we as people try to change our little bit of the universe and not just see the universe as it is. I also considered that a summer hike would not have allowed that observation because the trees would have their leaves fully extended and hiding the white estate. The detail of seeing what was not there at that time had me consider the quote "If I can't see these minutiae, I still try to keep my eyes open.” If I could not see the white estate I would still keep looking for other details.
As I arrived to the top of the first mountain there was a cannon pointed out towards the valley below. I consider the quote "I reel in confusion; I don't understand what I see." I did not expect to see a relic from the civil war here nor in such good condition. I believe that the park service maintains the cannons to keep them from deteriorating and to help preserve history. Sue, a member of my hiking group mentioned that the cannons were dragged here in one night by men not horses.
At the top of the mountain I looked southeast towards Atlanta and could only make out minor details, because the low cloud cover or what could have been fog obscured most of the Atlanta skyline. On the return hike to the top of the mountain the clouds had lifted and I could see downtown Atlanta or at least the tall buildings which make up the Atlanta skyline. I consider the quote "It's all a matter of keeping my eyes open" to see there are three distinct high rise areas in the skyline of Atlanta. Maybe one day I can spend time pondering the reasons for the three areas but my main focus is on seeing not trying to surmise an understanding.
Nature is opportunistic. The quote "I had been my whole life a bell, and never knew it until that moment I was lifted and struck." seemed to fit the next seeing. An observation I had was seeing a small tree growing from a small crack in a large rock. I found it peculiar that I have a tree in my house and it barely survives due to my lack of caring for it where the tree in the crack of the rock seems to do flourish.
I looked at two trees which had fallen down and the base was hollow except for the outer third. A tree lives while its middle becomes hollow? I know not all trees are like this because I have a nice dinning room table and it does not seem to be missing part of the center of the tree. From my table I consider the last quote "I see what I expect" because the table is whole as it should be. The hollow tree is like people that go about their lives and on the outside they look happy but inside they are empty.
I like to read your pieces--they always involve activity, which is a nice change of subject for someone as sedentary as myself. I like the bit about the cannon (wow!). I encourage you to not be so aware of the assignment. If you cut out the stuff at the beg. about class and the obvious ref. to Dillard, it'd loosen up the flow. Then, too, it's more than an assignment. good job.
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