This clay totem, from an early Landscape Architecture design studio, was the product of a lesson on storytelling. It used sculpture as a medium for storing and recalling memories of a one-week solo trip through Central Oregon.

The story, told from bottom to top, was about a young crow who thought he needed to fly higher and farther than others to see, but learned instead, through encounters with three spirit guides, that he just needed to open his eyes.

The totem also embodied the people, environment, and events that conspired in mysterious ways to enable my safe passage on a variety of prior wanderings, from treks along the Appalachian and Pacific Crest trails, to hopping freight trains and hitchhiking through Mexico.