A good point. The traveller may be building up experiences, sights, wonders, but the naturalist needs to be in the same place. He must know the same area in and out, every nook and cranny in every season of the year. These are not fleeting glances or one off moons and night skies. The trees must be viewed when fully leaved and when empty of them. The footprints viewed in the snow or in the summer grasses. So much is given over being in different places and seeing the world, learning through doing, all very sound and salient points, but is this at the expense of learning about one place in particular? About truly knowing something, and therefore on the journey to mastery?
What a morning though. Up at seven, fairly rested, and the girls playing in a good mood. Pancakes and maple syrup followed by a walk on the crispy orange leaves down the path to the trees with everyone. Picking up leaves that are bigger than our faces and enjoying frosty autumnal November. Sunny, clear and colourful, beautiful. And I’m sure most places would be at that time, in that light on a Sunday morning. Open our eyes, the world isn’t always on someone else’s doorstep.