I love looking at things and spotting patterns and the various bit of beauty and oddness in unusual places. A friend who knows I have this interest suggested I read On Looking by Alexandra Horowitz. What a treat it is!

The author takes 11 walks through neighborhoods, mostly in Manhattan, with 11 different guides who are all experts in their areas. Seeing and hearing what they notice on their walks is so interesting. There are worm tracks through stone, trash cans at the eye level of toddlers, lettering with unfortunate spacing, animal wild life and their tracks in the city, people’s behavior in crowds and while walking, non-verbal communication, scents and sounds and so much more. It is a delight to read and re-read.

Thinking about noticing, I took my dog for a walk today. I left my phone behind so that I too could go out looking. My dog was a great companion in demonstrating how interesting the walk was to her with things I just couldn’t really appreciate. Having so many olfactory nerves or sensors would really change one’s life. I wonder how a perfumer senses the world. Much of my walk was along the lines of, “Hurry up, let’s go!” shifting quickly to, “Ooh! Wait! Let me check this tree out” to “Let me try this grass. Not that grass, this grass.” Munch, munch munch. Then “Hurry up, let’s move on!” and “Oooh! People!!”

It was nice to take some time out and just notice and look. I might take some of what I saw and put it in a drawing, but I also may just file my observations away to add to my next noticing session. Have you noticed anything new around you recently?