The Veneer of a Deeper Narrative

The man with the long beard and tattooed forearms was squatting beside the trail and apparently trying to speak with a butterfly. By now, this was not surprising.

I’d been hiking with Obi Kaufmann all afternoon, and every few minutes he would stop walking, let the conversation trail off, then stare into the distance at what I couldn’t quite see, muttering under his breath about something that appeared mundane to me but seemed to fill him with wonder. “Flock of birds over there,” he’d point out, gesturing toward barely perceptible specks in the distance. More than once, he tailed zigzagging dragonflies until he could identify their species. He perched low on his haunches to investigate native plants or closely observe columns of marching ants. After the first mile or so, talking to butterflies just seemed normal.

I was intrigued from the start.

Kaufmann is a wildlife artist, poet, and amateur naturalist/conservationist based in Northern California. The day we met, he was days