Summer afternoons in the Arkansas delta are endless. After a lunch that might include collard greens and hot-water cornbread, townspeople traditionally stave off the heat and humidity by taking a nap.
Visiting my grandparents in the late 1960s, I was restlessly waiting for everyone to wake up one day when I opened the breakfront china cabinet in the living room and pulled out a Readers Digest Condensed Book.
I flopped my legs over the side of a wingback chair and began reading Helen Hoover’s “The Gift of the Deer.” Just by chance, I began to discover her story of life in the woods and her reverence for all living things. Hoover’s books made a profound impact on my life and are still, thankfully, in print.
Summer and reading just naturally go together, whether you are on vacation or on your deck. The following are a few of my favorite selections with a nature theme.
Books
• Jean Giono’s “The Man Who Planted Trees”: This one’s for those of us who love trees and those of us who believe that a single person can make a difference. I love the way the French writer’s book was formatted into a CD, which has the inspiring voice of Robert J. Lurtsema and music by from the Paul Winter Consort. I was playing this as I entered Yosemite for the first time. Magical.
• Terry Tempest Williams’ “Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place”:
This book “chronicles the epic rise of Great Salt Lake and the flooding of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in 1983, alongside her mother’s diagnosis with ovarian cancer, believed to have been caused by radioactive fallout from the nuclear tests in the Nevada desert in the 1950s and 60s, and is now regarded as a classic in American nature writing, a testament to loss and the Earth’s healing grace,” writes Wind Over the Earth.com.
• Rachel Carson’s “The Sense of Wonder”: One of the happiest times for Carson was taking her nephew on expeditions to discover the plants and animals near her home. This essay, written shortly before her death, has also been formatted on CD.
• Gretel Erhlich’s “The Solace of Open Spaces”: This is a compelling account of life in the wilds of Wyoming.
• “Sisters of the Earth, Women’s Prose & Poetry About Nature”
• “Natural State, A Literary Anthology of California Nature Writing”
• Joseph Cornell’s “Listening to Nature, How to Deepen Your Awareness of Nature”
Poetry
• Walt Whitman
• Pattiann Rogers
• Gary Snyder
• Mary Oliver
Magazines
• Orion Magazine: Turn to Orion for articles on nature with connections to political and social issues
• Bay Nature Magazine: This title explores nature in the San Francisco Bay and Monterey Bay areas. The magazine has a great “events” section.
Reference books
• Kathleen Lyons, Mary Beth Cuneo-Lazaneo, Howard King, “Plants of the Coast Redwood Region”
• “The Natural History of the UC Santa Cruz Campus”: Although none of us lives at University of California, Santa Cruz, we share the same ecosystems, and this is the most comprehensive book written on the geology, plants and animals in our area. Out of print for decades, it was updated in 2008.
Pick up something to read as spring turns to summer, and celebrate the summer solstice later this month on June 21, the longest day of the year.
• Carol Carson, an environmental educator and grant writer, writes an occasional nature column. She has been a docent for Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and taught courses on Big Basin State Park for UCSC Extension. Contact her at ca****@ca*********.com.
