A quote that I really like but have never been able to properly attribute goes like this: “If your life is worth living, it’s worth recording”. This is why I keep a field journal. We all encounter things that are magical, unique and frankly, in some cases, completely new to science… if only we recognized them for what they were and thought enough to document and share them. By sketching and writing in the field, I find that some of those things that would otherwise slip by and fade in the memory can be relived months or even years later… and yes, some of them turn out to be important—like tool use by a raven, a previously unknown site for Weller’s salamanders, an early date for a Milbert’s tortoiseshell butterfly, or a rare sighting of a rusty blackbird in Yellowstone. The writing and sketching doesn’t have to be pretty, it just has to be done—even the worst of scribbles preserves a moment in time, if not for posterity, for the soul.
While you don’t need any instruction to begin your own field journal, taking a class in Yellowstone like Keeping a Travel Sketchbook is a good way to gain inspiration for documenting and sharing your experiences. Looking at other folks’ journals can be inspiring as well. To see other examples of my own field journals and sketches, see Senseless Death, Timeless Beaty or Sketching Yellowstone’s Bison.
Update: Lorretta from Helena, Montana was able to pinpoint the quote for us! It reads as such—“A life worth living is worth recording,” by the American author and speaker, John Rohn
Field notes recording geyser eruption times and sighting of—a rusty blackbird—a rare bird for Yellowstone.
Field notes and sketches from my “Intelligence of Animals” class in Lamar Valley, including observations made during a ‘bird language sit’ and field marks of a prairie falcon seen on a snowshoe hike.