Walking Glen Tana

By Gay Witherspoon, Landowner and Conservancy Volunteer

Walking Glen Tana over the years has enriched and enlightened me. I am Gay Witherspoon, married into the family who grew up on this land. Every day the landscape is familiar but never the same. Discoveries (I think of them as secrets) are in the changing but also in the enduring features.

Recently, I’ve been pondering how nature seems to measure success in terms of perseverance. The big field just north of Rutter Parkway was purchased well over a hundred years ago from the Lockhart family to become part of Glen Tana. It is remarkable how few signs of the people have survived but there are three apple trees and a yellow rose bush sitting in one upper corner. No person has watered, fertilized or tended them for decades. One tree died not too long ago but the other two bloom and produce apples still. The rose bush is covered in flowers every spring. Pines slowly repopulate the field’s upper portions and creep toward the lower field. Living plants endure as the metal junk rusts and is covered in dirt. There is neither “good” nor “bad,” just what survives. The capacity to last–another day, another year, another
challenge–and a bit of luck are what matter. Look up at the rocky cliffs and marvel at the small and huge pine trees emerging from the rocks.

I cross this field almost every walk, with no lasting impact on the surroundings, but I am acknowledged. I am a part of the picture. The coyote watches from afar; the deer may or may not run from my presence and the hawk might cry and move to another tree. It is somehow comforting to just exist as a tiny part of a much larger scheme. How much older are the trees and rocks? My passing is insignificant.

“Perspective” is a closely related gift and tied to perseverance, but what a gift it is. The human worries and concerns carried on a walk that are so urgent at first diminish as you progress. Sometimes it’s like finding the puzzle piece that’s eluded you. After you walk away for a while, then take a new look, it is right there. You find that an answer suddenly appears. As new things catch your eye, wonder begins.

The changing things, the surprises, are often the most fun: the first sight of yellow, blooming arrowleaf
balsamroot, dewy small webs at the tips of pine boughs on a foggy morning, falling frost glittering the air on a blue-sky day. Don’t even get me started on the animals! There’s not enough space. But I will tell you I once locked eyes with the closest of three mule deer twenty feet from me and the two preoccupied German shepherds I had on leashes in front of me. The deer stood frozen, wary but not terrified. We looked into each other’s eyes as we passed and came to an agreement and an acknowledgment. The dogs never saw the deer. It was unforgettable.

Surprises and secrets are better discovered than revealed. Take a walk in the wild, not a run or a bike ride, but at a human pace, a walk. Become a part of the wild but only a tiny piece.

I look forward to sharing this place with more visitors: the big dramatic vistas from the high spots, the little gifts close at hand and all the spaces in between. When the time comes, Glen Tana will be there much as it has always been because it has persisted and will endure. It is with a very full and grateful heart, that I thank all who have participated, and all who will participate, in the preservation of this beautiful piece of Spokane.