Borland kept a seasonal diary of the changes that happened month by month and then over a period of many years. These are things that many of us may be unconsciously aware of but when Borland lays it out like this you find yourself remembering too how the honking of flights of Canada Geese always seems to correspond with the last dregs of snow on the ground and how, in February, the Gray Squirrels on the Oak trees in the yard suddenly became more active because, hey On the cover, under the subtitle, A Handbook to the Country, it states, "for anyone who walks the woods and fields and wants to learn about the living things he has often looked at but never seen".
Yup, nailed it Author 1 book 30 followers. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this gem originally published in Hal Borland tells about his country home in New England - the wildflowers that bloom along road- and river-sides; the trees that grow in the valleys and mountainsides; the animals and birds he sees on his walks, the fish he catches in the nearby river, and a month-by-month accounting of what blooms and what birds and animals can be seen.
He is quite thorough in his descriptions, whether talking about clouds and weather or describing the hazards such as poison ivy and bee stings, and yet it never became tedious to me. Instead, it was such a pleasant diversion from the chaos of the daily newsfeed Presidential politics, anyone? Even though I live in Los Angeles, I'm not far from the hills and I've always enjoyed getting out in Nature such as it is here , but this made me long for a home in the country and a much slower pace of life.
Robin Ferguson. Reading these Nature books refreshes my interest and encourages me to observe and notice all life that surrounds me. Martin J. OK, If you've read more than one book by ol'Hal, at least any of those that deal with his reflections on his daily life and observation inside the orbit of his farm in New England, you have pretty much read them all. This book is no exception, and is structured on his beloved and well worn template of breaking the year into seasons and months and then capturing all of the markers that tell us we have made another trip around the sun.
This appeals to my sense of order and as a rabid journal writer myself, it becomes plain that the author pens away from the pages of his daily journal: the first robin, the day the cowslips blossom, the last frost, when the bees hit the sweet clover and small victories of the garden. It's the nature of the recorder of daily farm life, the firsts, the lasts, but it's mostly the obvious really.
Borland was ahead of his time as an organic gardener, strident advocate of conservation and early proponent of the nascent field of ecology. Like the Nearings and Lois Bromfield, he was the champion of the "back to the land," folk, the second generation self-reliant wave of those urban dwellers that chucked it all and bought old abandoned farms for a song and moved out.
This book is not his best effort, as many of his antidotal observations and discoveries are not original to the catalog reader of his works, but really, how can you write anything about early spring on a farm and not mention the song of the first peepers?
That would be a cardinal sin of omission. That vernal chorus always stirs in me the courage to turn my back on those last, late winter gales and finally unplug the stock tanker heater in the steer yard. A lovely read. Starts in the country person's home and moves outward. Covering plants, animals, microscopic world, hazards, edibles, weather, geography, seasons. Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews. Mass Market Paperback. Readable copy. Also find Softcover. Knopf, New York, Hard Cover.
Orange boards scuffed with edgewear, spine tips chipping. Usual library markings. Pages are clean, text has no markings, binding is sound. Published by Knopf, New York, Used - Hardcover Condition: Very good. No dust jacket. Hard cover. Condition: Very good. Includes Illustrations. No previous owner's name. Clean, tight pages. No bent corners. No remainder mark. Old book-stamp mark in the shape of a school house on closed pages.
HC Knopf Incorporated, New York, Used - Hardcover Condition: Very Good. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. Dust Jacket is worn and tattered with small tears on top corners. Cloth over Board. Parnall, Peter illustrator. Clean text, tight binding, light edge wear. Cover has begun to experience very slight color fading. Knopf, New York, N. First Edition. Dust Jacket Condition: Poor.
Rust cloth binding with gold print on spine. Light crsh at upper front corner tip. Blue head tint. Sound and unmarked. Dust jacket is rubbed and soiled. It has small waterstain at lower front corner, tears in front cover with large triangular section missing at top. In mylar sleeve. A well-known nature writer's veiws of his local surroundings. Published by Knopf,, Used - Hardcover Condition: Good,.
Used - Hardcover. Dust jacket VG, light soiling and wear. Book VG, solid, though some dust and marks on page-ends. Ex-Library; Illustrated by Peter Parnall. Knopf, NY, Seller: Weller Book Works, A. Good, soiling on edges of textblock and stain on bottom of text block. Bumping and rubbing on edges of cover. Top right of first page cut off Good, price clipped with moisture stain along bottom of rear panel.
Bumping and rubbing to edges with chips and closed tears. Parnell, Peter Drawings by ; illustrator. Includes illustrations. Chapter heading illustrations; Lists at end: common and scientific names of animals and plants; "An Armful of Books". Red cloth-covered boards, golf titles. Cover: "for anyone who walks in the woods and fields and wants to learn about the living things he has often looked at but never seen.
DJ Brodart protected; 0 0. Knopf, New York: Drawings by Peter Parnall. Published by NY Alfred A. Knopf C Illustrated by Peter Parnall drawings. Binding is rust cloth. Knopf, Inc, New York, Cloth Hardcover. Peter Parnall illustrator. Light wear. Very light soiling. Lightly bumped corners. Inked gift inscription on front endpage. Published by Alfred A Knopf, Used - Hardcover Condition: Fine.
Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Dust jacket shows wear - inside like new.
0コメント