“Walkabout: a journey on foot undertaken by an Australian Aboriginal to live traditionally.”

Tomorrow, Maria gets her much-delayed birthday present, a “walkabout,” she calls it, in the woods a couple of hours south of our farm with Zack Fisher, a naturalist, explorer, and tracker who travels all over the world.

Maria loves walking in her forgotten woods; she goes out with the dogs almost daily. I can’t handle woods hikes anymore; we walk together on flatter ground.

But I thought the best present for her would be to walk with someone who knows the woods well and could teach her about the trees, birds, wildflowers, and plants she loves to photograph and study.

It took me weeks to find Zach, who is often out of the country; we finally connected online and on the phone. He is impressive – knowledgeable, empathetic, and a natural teacher.

I sent him a long e-mail about Maria and what I thought she would love to learn, and he wrote back right away, saying he was touched by my e-mail and felt the love in it.

That got my attention.

This was in January.

I knew he was the right guide for her. He is swamped, and it took months for them to find a date that worked for both. That’s tomorrow.

He will spend the day with Maria walking in the woods in a state forest halfway to New York City. I’m not going; it’s her time in the woods.

Maria is both nervous and excited about it. I know she will love it.

We went shopping together – she is not into shopping – for a backpack and a unique water canteen (yellow, of course.)

I am pleased to have given her this gift. Since she can remember, she was in love with the woods and the trees. No one noticed.

I honestly can’t think of a better one for her or one she would appreciate more.

Maria lives and walks in nature as often as she can and has learned so much about birds, insects,  trees, flowers, and plants.  She talks about the woods all the time.

The woods are her spiritual place; they heal, soothe and inspire here. Nature is an integral part of her art.

I’m happy she is getting this chance to spend some time with Jack, who graduated from the world’s most famous tracking school (Tom Brown, Jr.’s Tracker School The Tracker School was founded in 1978  in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens by Tom Brown Jr, a famed tracker, and Wilderness Survival expert.  The school was based on the teachings of Stalking Wolf, the Apache elder from whom Tom learned his skills when he was just seven years old.)

Zack also teaches weaving from plants and flowers in the woods. Sounds like a perfect match. Next, she’ll be making some of her fiber paintings out of weeds and wildflowers.

I wouldn’t want to intrude on this walkabout, but I asked Maria to talk with Zack and ask him if there were things we could do and learn together with him.

I’d like to know more about tracking and also about the teachings with Stalking Wolf, an Apache who never surrendered.