Summary

In Part I of this chapter Dillard thinks about what it means to be present as she is sitting alongside the road at a gas station petting a puppy. She is watching the sky seem to ignite the old oak tree aflame and feels in that moment she is the most present and alive she has ever been. But as she verbalizes the present, she ceases to be present. To be fully present, all of her senses must be engaged.

In Part II and III of this chapter she practices the theory she has laid out in Part I. Part II is comprised of multiple moments in time where she is engaging all of her senses and she explores Tinker Creek. She thinks about sycamore trees and how large and massive they are and how nature has no choice but to be in...