Feet Shuffling Through Dry Leaves (2)

Thomas Doty – Storyteller

Image.

Feet Shuffling Through Dry Leaves

The Pit Rivers call the sound of traveling "tras ... tras ... tras" which means "feet shuffling through dry leaves."

In 1981, I began a journey through the varied landscapes of the West. Traveling as storyteller and poet -- words shuffling behind, catching up with me now and again like shadows -- I search out the stories of people, their myths of rivers and mountains, the basalt and pumice deserts, the ocean where the waves crash and pull and swell.

I pause. Snag the words. Carry them along. Speak them to anyone who'll listen. And head down the trail "tras ... tras ... tras...."