― Aldo Leopold
Photo courtesy of azstateparks.com
I came across this book because Kevin had to read it for his Natural Resource Management class at GVSU. He had read and actually enjoyed it which isn't the case for many books that are assigned to us throughout our educations. He passed it along to me to read and at first, I was a little apprehensive. I mean come on, I'm a culinary girl, not really a hunter or a naturalist. I do enjoy camping and hiking but I had never really pursued the subject.
If you have never heard of Aldo Leopold, which I am sad to say I hadn't, he is an amazing person. He was born in 1887 and grew up in Burlington, Iowa. He graduated form Yale Forest School and pursued a career in forestry by working in many National Forests. He eventually ended up in Wisconsin, which is where many of the stories told in the book take place. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1948 while fighting a wildfire on his neighbors property. His writing style is amazing, but it can take some getting used to. To read more about Aldo Leopold and his mark on history, visit http://www.aldoleopold.org/home.shtml .
This book is a collection of various stories and contemplations of Mr. Leopold's, narrated by himself. I am not very familiar with the lingo of conservationists, so I had to look up a couple of the words used to know exactly what he was referring to. I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. It really opened my eyes to the effect we are having on nature and how precarious ecosystems can be. He has a way of opening your eyes to new things, even though you may have looked at them for years.
"Early risers feel at ease with each other, perhaps because, unlike those who sleep late, they are given to understatement of their own achievements. Orion, the most widely traveled, says literally nothing. The coffee pot, from its first soft gurgle, under claims the virtues of what simmers within. The owl, in his trisyllabic commentary, plays down the story of the night's murders. The goose on the bar, rising briefly to a point of order in some inaudible anserine debate, lets fall no hint that he speaks with the authority of all the far hills and the sea." Excerpt from A Sand County Almanac
(p. 59-61)
Mr. Leopold also knows very well how the circle of life goes. He even discusses the decision he faced between digging up a nearby tree to his prize white pine. While reading this book, I would often curl up on my couch with the porch door open and listen to the sounds of nature. There is a little pond outside my window and a family of ducks and geese have arrived with the coming of spring. I listened to the birds chirping and I found a new appreciation to the sometimes obnoxious way geese communicate.
I love the way he writes, his language is so simple yet it conveys a certain reverence to nature. I highly recommend this book to anyone, as it will really open your eyes in a new way. He also appeals to the foodie side of me. This next excerpt shows how truly amazing nature is to all living things.
"Every region has a human food symbolic to its fatness. The hills of the Gavilan find their gastronomic epitome in this wise: Kill a mast-fed buck, not earlier than November, not later than January. Hang him in a live-oak tree for seven frosts and seven suns. Then cut out the half-frozen 'straps' from their bed of tallow under the saddle, and slice them transversely into steaks. Rub each steak with salt, pepper, and flour. Throw into a Dutch oven containing deep smoking-hot bear fat and standing on live-oak coals. Fish out the steaks at the first sign of browning. Throw a little flour into the fat, then ice-cold water, then milk. Lay a steak on the summit of a steaming sour-dough biscuit and drown both in gravy.
'This structure is symbolic. The buck lies on his mountains, and the golden gravy is the sunshine that floods his days, even unto the end." Excerpt from A Sand County Almanac
(p. 151-152)
You can find this book on Amazon, or at your local library.
Happy Reading!
