# Soil seeking - a collective care practice Recently, my husband and I were driving out to Death Valley National Park to soak up a little bit of extra nature after a long quarter of teaching came to a close. For almost a decade now, we have been road tripping together exploring the western United States while living in Colorado and California. We have found ways to entertain ourselves on the road. One simple highway observation that I made years ago still brings us far more joy than it deserves. Every time we see it, it drops a bit more whimsy and light into our long drives. It's not what you expect. Have you ever seen a semi-truck, without the trailer part, and instead towing one, two, or sometimes even three more truck bodies? It's like a caterpillar of semi-trucks. I always smile when we come across one, and on this trip, we saw a particularly special variety - an all-red, all-matching, four-long truck sandwich. Finding simple observations that bring me joy is one of my secrets to life. I do this with so many things. I am a person that "loves", a person with many favorites. I love pink, beans (coffee and pinto), birds, stacked semi-trucks, tiny objects, cats, and of course, soils. I decide that I love these things, announce it loudly and often, and then allow my mind to look for them in my daily wanderings. Every day, I come across something in my long list of loves and it gives me a sense of connection to place, time, and reality. The world is gifting me so many of the things that I love and I can't help but feel seen. It's this mindset that helps me stay grounded and grateful. While I love the surprise of coming across something I love unexpectedly, I also spend a lot of time out in nature, looking for things I love on purpose. I find immense calm and solace in spending time in nature observing, feeling, and focusing on the present wonder right in front of me. As a person who struggles with anxiety (more than I typically admit while wearing my "scientist" hat), I find that quiet experiences in nature where I focus my mind on a specific search is one of the only times the endless ticker tape inside my brain softens. Becoming a birder has revealed to me that it's not just the "being" in nature that I find fulfilling, but the search-and-find aspect that I really enjoy. Not the chase of getting to the top of the peak or the end of the trail, but rather the wander and slowness of noticing every little thing. I pick up a lot of detail from my environment, like a sponge in a pool of tie-dye. On a regular day, I get easily overwhelmed by all this detail, especially as it accumulates across a day. But my outdoor wanderings become a time that I can let myself slowly process all that detail and experience little, unexpected treasures along the way, like a heart-shaped piece of lichen on a rock.  *Me, looking for soils and birds while enjoying a cup of coffee in the desert earlier this year.* Given my chosen expertise and career, I now have a soil science view of the world that I can never really turn off. I am always noticing soils everywhere, sometimes passively, but more often I am actively looking for places where soils are exposed waiting to be observed and enjoyed. I also feel a real calling to share soils with others. This process of intentionally looking for and stopping to observe the soils around me is a part of my **soil care practice**. I really do believe that noticing soils and engaging your curiosity for soils is a first and important step towards greater soil conservation. It is part of a collective re-envisioning of our relationship with soil. Befriend your local soils with care and curiosity, and you'll begin to think differently about soil's place in our culture.  *Me again, very excited to be showing this soil (filled with lamellae and covered in bird guano) to students on a field trip during my winter quarter soil morphology class in 2023.* A few days ago I was providing feedback on some writing from a collaborator that mentioned my audio essays and writing titled, [wonder of soil](https://wonderofsoil.substack.com/). The sentence included a typo and the title instead read, "The Wonders of Soil". It struck me as I corrected it that I made a decision (subconsciously apparently) to use wonder as a verb, rather than a noun. Certainly, much of the content I produce is about celebrating the wonders that lie in the soil (like the huge range of colors and diversity of soil organisms). It is great to learn about the many soil _wonders_ that often go unseen, but even better to _wonder_ about soils together. Let's focus our curiosity to wonder more, notice more, experience more, and celebrate soil together. Looking for and befriending your local soils is a perfect place to start. I call the practice soil seeking, and I invite you all to join me.  *A lovely cobbly soil profile with layers of rounded rocks and sediment moved by flowing water, found while running near Nucla, Colorado.* ## What is soil seeking? Soil seeking is the practice of finding and observing exposed soil profiles and features in the world around us. Soil seeking is for soil science what birding is for ornithology. The purpose of soil seeking (at least for me) is two fold: 1. to connect with and learn about the soils in my local area 2. to celebrate and share a love of soils with others My goal is to give others the eyes to see soils in their every day lives, and come to appreciate soils as a beautiful natural wonder worth learning more about and protecting. Seeking soils in the world around us is a way to express our care for them. > _Soil seeking is NOT digging holes and disturbing soils to look for specific features. Instead, it is the practice of looking for places where soils are already exposed through natural or anthropogenic processes and observing them in situ._ --- ## Principles of soil seeking #### Seek soils with intention Make sure you have a purpose that guides your soil seeking adventure. Here are a few things that motivate me to seek soils, what motivates you? - curiosity & learning - celebrating soil and nature - inspiration for my art practice - connecting with our local lands - connecting with others around shared experiences in nature #### Seek soils safely and thoughtfully Always use caution and be aware of your surroundings. For example, if you notice a soil along a roadside, take care when pulling over to look safely. Become aware of land ownership both past and present and know the rules about access. #### Leave soils be Do not collect soils you find, please leave them be. Finding soils is about celebrating them as a part of nature. Soil materials in personal collections are not able to inspire other soil seekers, provide habitat for organisms, or support the many ecological functions soils provide. #### Focus your search locally Look for soils where you already are. Use soil seeking as an opportunity to build a stronger connection with the land around you. Walk, bike, and take public transportation on your soil seeking adventures. #### Revisit soils often Establish a long-term relationship with a soil by revisiting often. Go back and say hello! Revisit soils you have found in your local area in all different seasons to see how their properties and character have changed. Revisit soils after a rain to look for evidence of erosion. #### Share your findings with others Tell the people in your life about your soil adventures. Help others develop the eyes to see soils in their lives. Share your photos and experiences online! --- ## Tips for successful soil seeking #### Know where to look There are 5 common places to look for exposed soils, described more in a previous post: [[Seeing the world through soils]] #### Learn more about the soils you find Check out the [Soil Web App](https://casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/soilweb-apps/) to look up soils in your area  Together, we can change the dominant narrative of soil as a "natural resource" from which we endlessly extract, to a natural wonder that we approach with compassion and care. We can shift our mindset by first spending more time with the soils that are already a part of our lives. #### Postscript >This essay is part of [[One thing about soil - an educational series]] created by Dr. Yamina Pressler. The essay was originally shared on substack. *updated on Aug 19, 2023*