But is it not ludicrous to address the world directly, to speak to other organisms and elements as though they could understand? Certainly not, if such is the simplest way to open our ears toward those others, compelling us to listen, with all our senses, for the reply of the things. To be sure, the valleys and the oaks do not speak in words. But neither do humans speak only in words. We speak with our whole bodies, deploying a language of gesture, tone, and rhythm that animates all our discourse.

~ David Abram, “Between the Body and the Breathing Earth”

Tatoosh Ridge, photo by KR Backwoos Photography, used with permission