From the Rallying Corner

Inspirations for Awe and Refueling

When I first started writing this newsletter I thought, “This will be so easy!” (obvious red flag) “I’ll never run out of things to say about nature!” What I didn’t think about is that not everything I want to say about nature is interesting. Duh. I knew this deep down, but my enthusiasm is far more buff than my restraint. 

So what do you do when stuck? You share the nature writing of others who inspire you of course! You Here are three very good reads:

I have been really loving Mary Roach’s “Fuzz”. It’s a book about what happens when “nature breaks the law.” (Yes, humans have tried to rope nature into lawsuits.. I wish I was kidding.) This book might be the main reason I’m currently stumped, because she NAILS it. Why should I even bother writing about the natural world!? Haha! Her style is clean, to the point, and very funny. The far ranging topics in this book are fascinating and frustrating. The frustration is with humans, but luckily Roach found other humans who are not “company men” or idiots to balance it out. I hope this book inspires a lot of people to become wildlife conservation biologists. My favorite thing about her writing is that she asks GREAT questions. Do yourself a favor and read it. And over here at my house, I’m going to rally! 

Many of Nikolai Gogol’s short stories from his earlier days as a writer are meant to be macabre and frightening, but what I take away are his stunning, imaginative descriptions of skies, rivers, trees, and other natural beings. The Ukrainian stories are my favorite; “The Eve of Ivan Kupala” and “Terrible Revenge”. In the latter is a description of the Dnieper River that haunts me. It’s a lyrical masterpiece. These stories are much freer and more nimble than his novels. They lack the maniacal preciousness that exists in his works like “Dead Souls”. I imagine that story as having tight rubber bands doubled and tripled all over its details -- its narrative progresses, but it doesn’t move. It’s so uncomfortable (which I suppose it was meant to be...). I can see why it made him bananas enough to become a fanatically religious un-enjoyer. I hope the accounts of his life aren’t completely correct and he managed to squeeze some joy out of his last few years. 

Leslie Marmon Silko’s “The Turquoise Ledge”. Silko is a heavy hitter, known best for her INCREDIBLE novel “Ceremony” and for her poetry. She is my favorite American prose writer by A LOT. “The Turquoise Ledge'' was her first work of nonfiction and her descriptive gifts in it give and give. She is so in the moment she can actually slow time. I think about this book a great deal and use it as my “how to” manual of slowing time in my own life. It describes Silko’s beautiful, self-examined days living in Tucson, Arizona. She writes about things like her friendships with rattlesnakes that live under her house in ways that bring my blood pressure down. It’s magic.

And now, I’m off to plant garlic! XO