Pilgrim Style

Being a pilgrim is a traveler or someone who takes journeys to find a sacred place. Dillard is a pilgrim in the way that when she goes out into nature, she observes it like she has never seen it before. She really looks at the detail of the animals and the way they live. To watch the muskrats she had to figure out how to stalk them. There would be days where Dillard wouldnt see any muskrats. She had to take the time to find out where they lived and how to get close to them without them being scared off. Also when she saw fish, Dillard understood the connection between fish and Christ. Fish can be food for people without people working too hard for it. When Dillard watched the mantis lay her eggs and eat the head of the male mantis, she was stunned. At the same time though, realizes that it is a natural act. In the book, Dillard talks about nature and says "No form is too grusome, no behavior is too grotesque"(Dillard 66). To humans it looks like cruelty, but truly it is what supposed to happen.
Initially, it is always hard for me to see an animal eating another animal. My first thoughts are me thinking its gross and mean of the animal to do sometime like that. Then I realize that it is a part of life for animals to do that. I do not think it is considered cruel of an animal to kill and feast on their victim because they are following their natural instinct. When I go outside, I don't connect it to religion, but I am amazed with the different beautiful landscapes and the diversity of animals. I always really enjoy being at the right place at the right time and seeing something that I would not have seen otherwise. Back home, my family and I will be hanging out in our hot tub, when a dove with perch on the edge of the tub and drink from it. The dove will be only two or three feet away. We will just sit there, not making a sound or movement until it leaves. Going outside makes me realize that there is a huge number of animals that I do not know about that there is so much more out there.