Animal Tracking and Bird Language are two sides of the same coin; the word tracking includes both. Tracking, in this larger sense, is about the skills of meaning making in the natural world, and comes down to us as a remarkably intact oral tradition. To practice tracking is to use our brain the way it first evolved to be used. That is why tracking is so easy and so much fun, once you learn the basic skills. Trackers aspire to walk through the natural world the way our ancestors did, seeing the enhanced view of the world they saw, making the same high quality meaning they made. Dirt Time is the word trackers use to describe time spent out in the field, on the dirt, practicing our skills. This book describes the operation of a tracker’s mind and the basic information and skills needed to make meaning out in nature. Meaning is as essential to humans as food or water. Without meaning you would die. Beyond basic tracking, Dirt Time takes a deep dive into the cognitive sciences to develop a philosophy in the form of a contemporary life practice with an ontology built out of our personal encounter with nature. Tracking always was, and still can be, a spiritual practice for those who choose to use it that way. Dirt Time, unlike almost any other book, explores how to reconceive spirit in ways that are both respectful of the ancient wisdom and fully congruent with modern scientific understanding.