Travel and Nature

The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜†β˜† | Travel and Nature | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads

This one didn’t meet my high expectations. The essays feel too forced and contrived, like the author is trying too hard. Lots of handwringing.  Her circle of concern is very very large. I don’t know how many essays reference the sad departure of her children from her once full home. I have no patience for mourning the loss of a child who has simply moved across town.  If only.  I read a half dozen of her short essays in the hot sun, wanting to be done with the book and move on to something more comforting. The essays went down easier out of doors, even if I don’t subscribe quite so much to her views.

You can’t come back to something that is gone. β€” Richard Powers, The Overstory

Sometimes the only cure for homesickness is to enlarge the definition of home.

The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜† | Travel and Nature | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads

I enjoyed these episodic adventures in the wilds of South Africa amongst elephants and the incredible struggle to preserve and cohabitate with these massive and intelligent animals. An Immense World by Ed Yong introduced me to the ways in which elephants see the world from a scientific basis. Here, the author tells the story from practical experience. 

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜† | Travel and Nature | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads

Steinbeck was 58 when he took his trip in his new “RV” with his dog around the country in search of an answer to this question: “what is America today?”

He doesn’t find a satisfactory answer, but I enjoyed his musings and evocative travel writing, especially since we plan to do something similar in our little RV.

Scroll to Top