One of my favorite books.
Journey 03.
Have you heard of Robin Wall Kimmerer? Her books are magical. They have a way of carrying you to a different world. It feels a bit like Narnia in that it seems other worldly except that she is very much speaking of the natural world you and I see every day. She so beautifully depicts nature with rich descriptions that had me in awe.
When we walk through the grass in our backyard or drive through neighborhood of trees on our commute, the earth is speaking to us but we’ve grown a bit deaf to her casual conversations. Robin catapults us back to this same world through her detailed insights and wisdom. I love this review by Elizabeth Gilbert: “She writes about the natural world from a place of such abundant passion that one can never quite see the world in the same way after having seen it though Kimmerer’s eyes.”
It’s true, I can’t unknow what Robin has taught me. And what I appreciate the most is the how she had me wanting to revisit what I thought to be obvious, those things we pass by without a second thought, and curiously look again. With fresh eyes and a new perspective I saw an entirely new world. Here’s a short passage from her book:
Robin Wall Kimmerer: Braiding Sweetgrass
“Most other places I know, water is a discrete entity. It is hemmed in by well-defined boundaries: lakeshores, stream banks, the great rocky coastline. You can stand at its edge and say “this is water” and “this is land.” Those fish and those tadpoles are of the water realm; these trees, these mosses, and these four-legged are creatures of the land. But here in these misty forests those edges seem to blur, with rain so fine and constant as to be indistinguishable from air and cedars wrapped with cloud so dense that only their outlines emerge. Water doesn’t seem to make a clear distinction between gaseous phase and liquid. The air merely touches a leaf or a tendril of my hair and suddenly a drop appears.”
Ah, go it enjoy it for yourself. The audiobook is narrated by Robin herself which is such a treat.
I’d love to hear what your favorite passages are.