Tracking - Sam Harrelson

Introduction and Summary

This journal is an unfolding record of attention. It is partly a field log, part spiritual practice, rooted in my PhD work at the California Institute of Integral Studies, where I explore the intersections of ecology, spirituality, and phenomenology. Inspired by process-relational thought, Indigenous ecological wisdom, and the rhythms of the more-than-human world, this page offers entries tracing my engagement with a single black walnut tree located here in Spartanburg, SC through the seasons.

Tracking, in this context, is not simply observation; it is an intentional act of presence and relational reciprocity. It is a response to what philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty called the “flesh of the world,” or a participatory ontology in which I too am being tracked, reconstituted by my encounters with wind, bark, squirrel, and shadow. This practice emerges from a desire to live in kinship with the land, as part of an ongoing inquiry into what Thomas Berry named our “Great Work”: to realign human consciousness with the deeper patterns of life.

I use the app Day One for these journal entries as well as Apple’s iPhone and AirPods Pro 2 for the microphone.

Audio MP3 files accompany each photographic entry and are playable on mobile and web browsers or for download. Length varies from approximately 5 mins to 15 mins. All photographs were taken using Apple’s iPhone.

AI-generated summary of all the audio entries below via Google’s Notebook LM (15 minutes):

Black Walnut Information

Black walnut (Juglans nigra) is an essential component of Southeastern forests and provides an ecological as well as economic benefit to South Carolina. The dark wood is popular in crafting furniture, and the walnuts make tasty treats.

The native range of black walnuts does not extend into the Lowcountry, but they are planted in residential landscapes throughout the state, especially in older neighborhoods. Characterized by their dark, deeply furrowed bark, black walnuts have large compound leaves with 15-23 leaflets. They have numerous male catkins and terminal female flowers that ripen into round, semifleshy fruit that contain the sought-after nut.

via Clemson University Extension Office (PDF) and NC State University Extension Office.