Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Exploration Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

When I see this way, I analyze and pry. I hurl over logs and roll away stones; I study the bank a square foot at a time, probing and tilting my head. (2.32)

Annie needs to keep a running commentary on the present moment in her mind so she doesn't get distracted. When she's aware of what she sees and acknowledges it constantly, she sees more deeply.

Quote #5

When I walk with a camera I walk from shot to shot, reading the light on a calibrated meter. When I walk without a camera, my own shutter opens, and the moment's light prints on my own silver gut. (2.33)

We're sure you know people who can't stop Instagramming and Facebooking everything, who only see the world through their phones. Pretty cool how Dillard already knew the limitations of this in 1974, huh?

Quote #6

If you can't see the forest for the trees, then look at the trees; when you've looked at enough trees, you've seen a forest, you've got it. (8.13)

Again, this is the larger world through the lens of a smaller one. If you're too small to see an overview, you can get the picture, as Anne Lamott says, "bird by bird."