Cozy Homes & Books
~ By Marye Audet
One of the things I really love about my house is that it is flanked by creeks on two sides. Because of the over building that the city is doing upstream it is also one of the things I hate about it because of the increasing flooding issues but THAT subject is for another time.
Because of the creek bed and the trees we have a plethora of animals to watch and interact with. It is not unusual to hear a pack of coyotes howling at night, or see the bobcat pad across the pasture by the light of the full moon. It is amazing because it does not disturb the horses one bit. Sometimes we hear a huge owl near the house. One night Marc was driving home and saw it standing by the side of the road and thought it was a fire hydrant until it looked at him.
We have a raccoon that we call Harry that lives in the walls of our house and a family of foxes in the pasture next to us. Deer use the creek bed as a safe highway from one grazing area to another. All of this first hand nature gazing has given the kids a real appreciation for wildlife and the environment and they love to read about animals and such. My 15 year old dreams of the day he can afford 100 acres and a teepee. I think I read My Side of the Mountain once too often!
There are so many really good modern books on the environment that have been published that it is hard to get through them all, let alone to hunt up an author that was only semi popular fifty years ago. But one of my favorite authors of all time is a man by the name of Sam Campbell, and if you are really, really lucky you can snag one of his books on ebay or at the local thrift store.
He was nicknamed the philosopher of the forest, by the media of the day because he was a prolific and thoughtful writer. He wore many other hats: photographer, radio personality, promoter, lecturer and a student of nature. His summer home was a game preserve in the forests of northern Wisconsin. He said he retreated there to study the animals, “their habits, their work, their play, and the examples they set for human beings in right living.”
His books basic, without difficult vocabulary or dry and lengthy paragraphs. He writes as if he is sitting and laughing with you over a cup of coffee. These books are a great family read aloud because of it.
Here is a website where you can read some of his books online. Next time you have a blustery afternoon grab a cup of (fair trade, organic) hot chocolate and snuggle up with your computer and spend a few hours in the forests of Wisconsin.
Please visit Marye’s other blogs, Baking Delights, Kettle and Cup, and read more of her green-minded tips at HubPages.
Tags: coyotes, fire_hydrant, foxes, full_moon, northern_wisconsin, old_dreams, philosopher, raccoon, radio_personality, sam_campbell, thrift_store, tree hugging familyRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Books, Green Home, Nature
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