Art.

NOTES on the SACRED ART of LOG SITTING

Approach the log cautiously with proper reverence as if you were entering a French cathedral or the bedroom of your lover.

If it’s over 60 degrees, inspect the lower sides of the log for Mohave rattlesnakes.

Now examine the log closely for the most comfortable place to sit, usually away from the sun.

Sit down.

Empty your mind of everything except what is in front of you—the natural landscape of the canyon.

Dismiss or allow to slide away any aspect of your grand or pathetic life.

Breathe softly. Avoid a doze.

Internalize what you see in the canyon: the oaks and mesquites, the rumpled and grassy earth, hawks flying by, a few songbirds.

Stay put for forty-five minutes to an hour. When you get up bow nine times to the log. Three logs a day is generally my maximum.

Jim Harrison