Reading The Sands

In 2004 I read an article called Reading the Sands, and was glad to see something positive coming out of the Gulf region regarding the environment and the outdoors.  Here is a brief section of the article.


When I mention that tracking schools have been established in the United States in recent years that keep alive some of the knowledge developed by Native Americans, Abdulhadi Saleh notes the decline of tracking skills in his own country, without any such schools on the horizon as yet. Other than his own thesis, he cannot recall a single recent book in Arabic on the subject of tracking or desert guiding: In Saudi Arabia, he says, there are only living practitioners, and their numbers are declining.

“In the past, trackers emerged and were picked for their specific skills as well as for their character. It was a big responsibility and an honorable status within any tribe and clan. Trackers were decision-makers and often leaders,” he explains. “You’ll see their ability today.” Click here to read the entire article...

I connected a lot the material in the article with a book I am reading by Tom Brown  in his book, Tom Browns Field Guide: Nature Observation & Tracking he says, "Nature is far more colorful and fascinating than most of us can imagine. But our minds are so clouded by modern thought patterns ans stimuli that we do not perceive the pure and natural except through a distorting lens."