In praise of paths

 

© Pedro Cuiça

HUMANS OF THE Stone Age were masters at orienting themselves in unfamiliar landscapes, reading the terrain, and finding their way forward. Their chosen path may not have been the shortest distance, nor the most expedient, but it was the path of least resistance. This trait characterized paths back then, and it continues to characterize them now. A route that follows the path of least resistance through uncharted territory is intuitively understood because it taps into an instinct that is deeply ingrained in all of us.

Paths formed because those who walked left behind footprints in the dirt as they traveled. Others who followed left new footprints on top of the old ones, ensuring the original tracks were not wiped out by natural phenomena before someone else passed the same way.

The path originated for itself. It was not a scenic route through landscape designed as a promenade or showcase for breathtaking vistas. It was not planned. There were no preliminary reports, no feasibility studies, no prior thought given to grading or paving.

The path is an effect, not the cause. It is organic and biodegradable, conforms to the landscape, is a part of the very natural world it passes through. It is temporary; its use and its existence are interdependent. It is there because someone uses it and it is used because it is there. To maintain a path is to walk it.

[EKELUND, 2020: 26]

© Pedro Cuiça

LIVRO

EKELUND, Torbjørn. 2020. In Praise of Paths – Walking through time and nature. Vancouver: Greystone Books.