Nature and the natural world: general interest Books

Book SynopsisWith dozens of simple prompts and exercises, best-selling author, naturalist, and artist Clare Walker Leslie invites you to step outside for just a few minutes a day, reignite your sense of wonder about the natural world, and discover the peace and grounding that come from connecting with nature. Using stunning photography as well as the author’s own original illustrations, The Curious Nature Guide will inspire you to use all of your senses to notice the colors, sounds, smells, and textures of the trees, plants, animals, birds, insects, clouds, and other features that can be seen right outside your home, no matter where you live. Sketch or write about one exceptional nature image each day; learn to identify cloud types and the weather they bring; or create a record of what you see each day as you walk your dog. Easy, enjoyable, and enlightening, these simple exercises will transform your view of the world and your place within it.

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Book SynopsisBecome a more attentive observer and deepen your appreciation for the natural world. The unique five-year calendar format of The Naturalist’s Notebook helps you create a long-term record and point of comparison for memorable events, such as the first songbird you hear in spring, your first monarch butterfly sighting of summer, or the appearance of the northern lights. Biologist Nathaniel T. Wheelwright and best-selling author Bernd Heinrich teach nature lovers of all ages what to look for outdoors no matter where you live, using Heinrich’s classic illustrations as inspiration. As you jot down one observation a day, year after year, your collected field notes will serve as a valuable record of your piece of the planet. This deluxe book, with a three-piece case, gilt edges, a burgundy ribbon bookmark, and a belly band with gold foil stamping, is a perfect gift for all nature lovers.

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Book SynopsisWhat do fishing with an otter, sitting atop a mountain at dawn with eighty Taiwanese backpackers, and driving home from Aldo Leopold's Shack have to say about the evolution of a personal environmental philosophy? Essays to My Daughter on Our Relationship With the Natural World provides a series of reflections by an environmental educator about lessons learned from time spent in nature. Originally conceived as personal letters to the author's daughter, this collection presents ethical questions outdoor enthusiasts regularly face as they work and play in the natural world. The essays in this book explore environmentalism in a modern-day context, with topics including sustainability education, the current relevance of environmental writers from the past, and the uncertainty of what is meant by words like "naturalist," "solitude," and "wilderness." There is no attempt to direct readers to any particular environmental philosophy. Instead, Simpson encourages readers to articulate their own perspective based on personal experiences in nature. Though Essays to My Daughter is written by a father to his daughter, the insights within the volume-and the questions they provoke-are valuable to all members of the next generation as they grapple with their own relationship to the natural world.Table of Contents Preface Introduction: Personal Philosophy and Individual Experiences Part I: The Pond and the Shack 1 The Good Oak Redux 2 Drowning Out All Our Muskrats 3 Wild Apples 4 Still Fishing 5 A Person's Leisure Time 6 Book Purge Part II: Sketches Here and There 7 Wisconsin East: A Small Square of Red 8 California With a Touch of Maine: Tide Pools East and West 9 Minnesota: Night of the Quintze 10 Iowa: The Birds of Iowa 11 Taiwan: Ascent of Jade Mountain 12 A Return to Taiwan: Old and American 13 Ontario: Goodbye, Deadbroke Island 14 Wisconsin West: Mark Twain on the Mekong 15 Wisconsin West: What About the Other Kids? 16 Three Outsdoorsmen and a Philosopher Part III: Continuums 17 The Preservationist and the Conservationist 18 The Wanderer and the Adventurer 19 The Homecomer and the Sojourner 20 The Romantic and the Scientist 21 The Restorer Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes About the Author

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Book SynopsisAnyone who has kept a horses or pony knows that riding and stable management can be time-consuming and expensive activities. Any advice that can save horse owners time, effort, and money is welcome. Karen Bush rides to the rescue with this compact, comprehensive book, full of tips that range from stable chores to tack and rider apparel care to finding new uses for old equipment. Learn how to use vinegar as an insect repellent, make a girth cover from the sleeve of a worn-out fleece jacket, cut down worn boots to make barn-chore shoes, and more. Here is a book that is as useful for the one-horse backyard owner as it is for the multi-horse barn manager. It is sure to start saving you time and money from the first page.

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Book SynopsisBen is a smart aleck dog who walks to the beat of his own drummer—to hilarious effect. With his unabashed belief in saving his own skin, wise ideas about staying safe, and way of endearing himself to any hunter who takes a dog along, this rogue retriever has had a memorable place in the hearts of outdoorsmen for years. Now he’s back, and no acre of woods or inch of water is spared from his delightfully un-obedient antics.Whether he’s attempting to bring the great outdoors inside, satisfying his appetite to the disdain of his master, or reeling in trouble with each cast of his fishing rod, Ben is simply at it again, still mounting more laughs than game. With more than one hundred original, beautifully illustrated, and cleverly captioned cartoons, there’s no mistaking this witty work for anything but another sure-to-be beloved classic of syndicated cartoonist John Troy. The perfect gift for anyone who has ever found a friend in a rascal of a hunting dog, Ben Lives is page after page of puns from this high-spirited pooch.

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Book SynopsisWhen we’re grieving, we need relief from our pain. Today we often turn to technology for distraction when what we really need is the opposite: generous doses of nature. Studies show that time spent outdoors lowers blood pressure, eases depression and anxiety, bolsters the immune system, lessens stress, and even makes us more compassionate. This guide to the tonic of nature explores why engaging with the natural world is so effective at helping reconcile grief. It also offers suggestions for bringing short bursts of nature time (indoors and outdoors) into your everyday life as well as tips for actively mourning in nature. This book is your shortcut to hope and healing…the natural way.

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Book SynopsisField Notes From a Hidden City is set against the background of the austere, grey and beautiful northeast Scottish city of Aberdeen. In it, Esther Woolfson examines the elements—geographic, atmospheric and environmental—which bring diverse life forms to live in close proximity in cities. Using the circumstances of her own life, house, garden and city, she writes of the animals who live among us: the birds—gulls, starlings, pigeons, sparrows and others—the rats and squirrels, the cetaceans, the spiders and the insects.In beautiful, absorbing prose, Woolfson describes the seasons, the streets and the quiet places of her city over the course of a year, which begins with the exceptional cold and snow of 2010. Influenced by her own long experience of corvids, she considers prevailing attitudes towards the natural world, urban and non-urban wildlife, the values we place on the lives of individual species and the ways in which man and creature live together in cities.

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Book SynopsisIreland''s diverse habitats ranging from forests and farmlands to peat bogs and coastlines is home to about 450 species of resident and migratory birds. This beautifully illustrated guide highlights over 140 familiar and unique species and includes a map featuring prominent bird-viewing areas. Laminated for durability, this lightweight, pocket-sized folding guide is an excellent source of portable information for anyone interested in birds, and is ideal for field use by residents and visitors alike. Made in the USA.www.waterfordpress.com

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Book SynopsisUsing practical symbol systems, distribution maps, and tips on picking, cleaning, cooking, and canning, this handbook will help you safely forage for a wide variety of mushrooms, including morels, black trumpets, chanterelles, sheep polypore, porcini, and many more.When you’re in the wild and you spot a nice-looking mushroom, how do you know if it is safe to eat? Question no more with the The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms. This tiny companion is the perfect book to bring along when foraging for delectable fungi. Inside its neatly arranged pages are fifty-two edible mushrooms as well as the mushrooms with which they are often confused, whether edible or toxic.Beautiful photographs adorn the pages with mushrooms in the wild as well as picked, showing them from a multitude of angles. Study these photographs and you will become adept at recognizing edible and safe mushrooms. Even those who are unfamiliar with the mushroom forest can make a start at foraging with this instructional work, and, with the help of The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms, can become experts in no time.Grabbing this guide on the way out to go hunt for mushrooms will ensure a successful foraging experience.

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Book SynopsisDeeply heartfelt, humourous, and insightful stories about cats.

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Book SynopsisRoads, Peoples, Birds, Mountaintops, and Billabongs recounts the unparalleled 3-year adventure around the world of a passionate ornithologist and an aspiring entrepreneur in an overweight Jeep camping van, 1959–1962. In this expedition around the world, Dean Fisher, with only one companion and a vehicle that broke down endlessly, speaks not only of the birds and natural history, but also the people and cultures encountered, not to mention the many challenges that had to be solved. This was all done long before international travel had become commonplace or bird guides were available for most of the places he visits. For many years, those of fascinated by his accounts urged him to write down these tales of adventure so they wouldn’t be lost. Finally, he has done so, and now we can all share in his incredible journey, from a time that seems quite distant and more innocent.

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Book SynopsisEver wonder about the dog in Downward Dog or the pigeon in Kapota? Rewild your yoga practice by connecting to the animals behind the asanas.For nature-loving yogis and readers of World of Wonders and Yoga MythologyFrom Downward Dog to Cobra, Wild Asana invites you into an embodied exploration of the animals that inspire familiar yoga poses. Drawing on wildlife science, anthropology, Hindu mythology, Eastern philosophy, and personal stories, this insightful guide by environmental educator and yoga instructor Alison Zak explores the connections among our bodies, our minds, and the animals that inspire our practice.In illustrated chapters on asanas like Tittibhasana (Firefly), Garudasana (Eagle), Bidalasana (Cat), and Ustrasana (Camel), Zak invites you to bring the deep nature of animals into breath and movement.You?ll learn to: Respect the monkey in ?monkey mind? to honor?not tame?your own wildness Fly like an eagle to move from imprisonment to liberation Embody a pigeon?s stillness and nonattachment Imbue your practice with the agility, flexibility, and fierce commitment of a cat Incorporate asana variations, mudras, and meditations inspired by animal nature Practice lovingkindness meditations that include the more-than-human world With an encompassing ecological compassion, gorgeous original illustrations, profound insight into animal wisdom, and the humor and perspective of lived experience, Zak offers a path to deepen and enliven your practice. Whether you?re an animal lover, a first-time yoga student, or an experienced practitioner, Wild Asana is a practical and accessible guide to becoming animal on your yoga mat.

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Book SynopsisIf you are interested in birdwatching, wildlife viewing, orstargazing; flowers, geology, or water; nature centers, festivals, orphotography, a destination in Texas awaits you.From the desert gardens of Big Bend to hawk watching on theGulf Coast to caving and bat watching in the Hill Country, natureoriented travel in Texas also includes lesser known getaways, suchas a photo ranch, rare plant preserve, and bluebird trail.Organized by the seven official state travel regions, Explore Texas features descriptions of almost one hundred nature-orientedsites, including information about the best time to visit andwhy it’s worth going; location, fees, and other logistics; and a“learn” section on the observations and natural phenomena avisitor might expect to experience. Photographs by professionalphotographer Jeff Parker accompany the accounts, and handycolor-coded icons help guide readers to the activities of theirchoice. Perfect for planning the family’s next outing or vacation, this book also contains a message of how nature tourism helps to protect biodiversity, promote conservation, and sustain the state’s tourism economy.

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Book SynopsisIn this information-packed, month-to-month guide to the wildlife, plants, and natural events that define the seasonal cycles in Big Bend National Park, naturalists Lynne and Jim Weber offer a richly illustrated guide to the natural rhythms of this beautiful and remote region in far West Texas. If you're on the lookout for deer in January, tracking hummingbirds in August, photographing wildflowers in September, or listening to frog choruses after a summer rain—the authors provide “Where to Watch” suggestions on when and how to see these and many other park inhabitants, from beavers and bats to lizards and dragonflies. Each chapter features a weather and temperature chart, photographs, and eye-catching illustrations by Lynne Weber. Whether you are a casual tourist or a frequent visitor to Big Bend, the authors hope that knowing what to look for during your stay in one of the nation’s largest national parks will heighten your awareness, sharpen your observation skills, and enhance your overall experience in this iconic Texas landscape.Trade ReviewFew people know Big Bend National Park as well as Lynne and Jim Weber... and in Nature Watch they share that knowledge with readers"" - Roland ""Ro"" Wauer, author of Naturalist's Big Bend

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Book SynopsisThe Gulf of Mexico is one of the most important ecological regions in the world for birds. The mosaic of diverse habitats in the region provides numerous niches for birds. There are productive salt marshes, barrier islands, and sandy beaches for foraging and nesting; a direct pathway between North and Central and South America for migrating; and warm, tropical waters for wintering. Many species are residents all year around, some migrate through, and still others spend the winter along the shores. The Gulf Coast is home to a significant portion of the world’s population of Reddish Egret and Snowy Plover and a significant portion of the US breeding populations of certain birds, including the Sandwich Tern, Black Skimmer, and Laughing Gull. In total, there are more than 400 bird species that rely on the Gulf at some time during the year.Drawing on decades of fieldwork and data research, renowned ornithologist and behavioral ecologist Joanna Burger provides detailed descriptions of birdlife in the Gulf of Mexico. Burger records trends in bird population, behavior, and major threats and stressors affecting birds in the region, including the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. While some of this data exists in journal articles, research papers, and government reports, this is the first volume to weave together a comprehensive overview of the birds and related natural resources found in the Gulf of Mexico.Illustrated with over 900 color photographs, charts, and maps, this landmark reference volume will be immensely important for researchers, conservationists, land managers, birders, and wildlife lovers.

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Book SynopsisDama gazelles, the largest of the gazelles, were once a common sight in Northern Africa, with a habitat ranging from the Atlantic Ocean east almost to the Nile River. Today, these animals are critically endangered as their populations have dropped precipitously due to the effects of expanding agrarian practices, overhunting, violent human conflict, and climate change on their native habitats.Though they are perilously close to extinction in the wild, Texas ranches maintain over a thousand dama gazelles—more than the number currently in zoos and in the wild combined. The habitat on some of these ranches resembles their natural range along the Sahara Desert of Northern Africa, making them suitable living spaces for damas.In The Dama Gazelles, Elizabeth Cary Mungall brings together experts from around the world and offers a comprehensive reference book on these animals, including information on natural history and taxonomy; physical and behavioral traits; dama gazelles held in zoos and collections, parks and preserves, and on Texas ranches; and efforts to reintroduce populations into the wild. There is also a rare, firsthand account from Frans M. van den Brink, an animal dealer from the Netherlands, who in the 1960s successfully captured 35 dama gazelles in Northern Africa and transported them to zoos in the United States and Europe, losing only two animals in the harrowing process. Those 33 dama gazelles were the “founders” of all the dama gazelles in captivity today.Detailed appendixes and a glossary round out the volume with additional information to help researchers, zookeepers, and landowners better understand and conserve dama gazelles.

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Book SynopsisIn Book of Birds: Introduction to Ornithology, John Faaborg, renowned expert on avian ecology and conservation, brings a fresh and accessible sensibility to the study of ornithology. In this beautifully illustrated volume, Faaborg's approachable writing style will engage students and birders alike while introducing them to the study of the evolution, taxonomy, anatomy, physiology, diversity, and behavior of birds. With its unique focus on ecology, the text emphasizes birds' relationships with the environment and other species while showing the amazing diversity of avian life.Faaborg pays special attention to the roles that competition, community structure, and reproductive behavior play in the astonishingly varied and interesting lives of birds seen around the world. He discusses variations in anatomy, morphology, and behavior; explains why such vast diversity exists; and explores the ways in which different birds can share the same spaces. Artist Claire Faaborg brings the science behind this diversity to life through her unique, hand-drawn artwork throughout the book.Combining vibrant visuals and knowledgeable insights, Book of Birds offers readers a firm foundation in the field of ornithology and an invaluable resource for understanding birds from an ecological and evolutionary perspective.

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Book SynopsisWinner, 2020 Al Lowman Memorial Prize for Best Book on Texas County or Local History There is a deep and abiding connection between humans and the land in Pinto Canyon—a remote and rugged place near the border with Mexico in the Texas Big Bend. Here the land assumes a certain primacy, defined not by the ephemera of plants and animals but by the very bedrock that rises far above the silvery flow of Pinto Creek— looming masses that break the horizon into a hundred different vistas. Yet, over time, people managed to survive and sometimes even thrive in this harsh environment.In the Shadow of the Chinatis combines the rich narratives of history, natural history, and archeology to tell the story of the landscape as well as the people who once inhabited it. Settling the land was difficult, staying on it even more so, but one family proved especially resilient. Rising above their meager origins, the Prietos eventually amassed a 12,000-acre ranch in the shadow of the Chinati Mountains to become the most successful of Pinto Canyon’s early settlers. But starting with the tense years of the Great Depression, the family faced a series of tragedies: one son was killed by a Texas Ranger, and another by the deranged son of Chico Cano, the Big Bend’s most notorious bandit. Ultimately, growing rifts in the family forced the sale of the ranch, marking the end of an era. Bearing the hallmarks of an epic tragedy, the departure of the Prieto family signaled a transition away from ranching towards a new style of landownership based on a completely different model. Today, Pinto Canyon’s scenic and scientific value increasingly overshadows the marginal economics of its past.In the Shadow of the Chinatis reveals a rich tapestry of interaction between humans and their environment, providing a unique examination of the Big Bend region and the people who call it home.Trade Review“A drive down Pinto Canyon road is now as much a part of the Big Bend visitor’s ritual as the drive along the River Road from Lajitas to Presidio. Pinto Canyon is a much more intimate experience, made more so by David Keller’s In the Shadow of the Chinati’s: A History of Pinto Canyon. The incredible geology and the great biodiversity are immediately visible, but what Keller provides is the rich, but mostly invisible human history of Pinto Canyon. The story he tells is an important one, especially that of the Hispanic culture and families, which often goes untold.” —Larry Francell, author of Fort Davis “A truly masterful Texas borderlands history, polished, precise, elegant, thoughtful, and intelligent.” —Thomas T. Smith, author of The Old Army in the Big Bend of Texas: The Last Cavalry Frontier, 1911-1921 “David Keller’s In the Shadow of the Chinatis is not merely a deeply-researched, fine-grained human history of a remote and beautiful canyon of the Big Bend country of far West Texas. Subjecting its real-life characters to novel-like treatment, this book is an original creation, unique in the literature of the desert Southwest. I sense the birth of a classic.” —Dan Flores, New York Times best-selling author of Coyote America “For any serious student of the Big Bend, this book is a treasure. With Keller’s book, the long silent rocks and ruins of Pinto Canyon have finally been given voice.”—San Antonio Express-News "Though his book is an academic work, Keller's attention to prose and style is evident... his portrayal of the families who lived there is touched with such care and heart, the reader only wants to see them succeed. Warning: The reader will be disappointed."—Texas Observer

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Book SynopsisThe Laguna Madre is the only hypersaline coastal lagoon on the North American continent and only one of five worldwide. The lagoon is renowned for its vast seagrass meadows, huge wintering redhead population, and bountiful fishing grounds. In 2000, the Nature Conservancy, whose mission is the conservation of biodiversity through protection of habitat, recognized the need to amass all known information about the Laguna Madre and implement a science-based conservation agenda. From those efforts came the first edition of this book. Now completely revised and updated, this second edition of The Laguna Madre of Texas and Tamaulipas is the culmination of two decades of additional research and continued conservation efforts in the region. Nearly 100 years of literature on the Laguna Madre and surrounding environments has been synthesized here. With 150 figures and illustrations, the book takes a broad and comprehensive look at both the Texan and Tamaulipan Laguna Madre. The value of this book for scientists, conservationists, resource managers, and policy makers involved in the future of the Texas and Mexico coasts is clear. Coastal residents, birders, anglers, and nature lovers who want to learn about and take care of the Laguna Madre will find this to be an indispensable guide.

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Book SynopsisA month-by-month guide to the birds that flock to the peaceful New England backyard of a noted writer, birder, and naturalist. Robert Tougias''s house on Berry Lane may look like a typical Connecticut suburban home, but as his fascinating year-long account reveals, its three-acre backyard is teeming with nature''s mysteries. Acutely sensitive to the activities of birds, Tougias notes which species are present, which are breeding, and where their nests are. He identifies each species by its song, and brings us on a journey of appreciation as we learn the wonders of bird migration, the sensitive interaction of birds with their habitat, and the hidden meaning of their call notes and songs.Intimate and acutely observed writing reveals the miracles of the ordinary in the subtle changes, season to season, of the ecosystem of the woods, streams, and meadow that make up the sprawling backyard on Berry Lane. We are led to consider, too, the dangers posed by the climate crisis and unthinking human development. The quietly powerful writing tunes our senses to the change of the seasons, the return of warblers in spring, geese flying south in the fall--all happening on time as they have for eons.Beautifully illustrated with twenty-five line drawings, Birder on Berry Lane is a book of sublime simplicity that teaches an appreciation for what we commonly overlook.“Birder on Berry Lane weaves a remarkably rich tapestry, describing many birds’ lives around a single place and showing just how connected to them we can become. Robert Tougias proves that if we look, we can see so much more than we think, even in our own backyards.” Brian SullivaneBird project leader, Cornell UniversityAuthor of Better Birding—Tips, Tools, and Concepts for the Field

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Book SynopsisThe Boston Harbor Islands have been called Boston's "hidden shores." While some are ragged rocks teeming with coastal wildlife, such as oystercatchers and harbor seals, others resemble manicured parks or have the appearance of wooded hills rising gently out of the water. Largely ignored by historians and previously home to prisons, asylums, and sewage treatment plants, this surprisingly diverse ensemble of islands has existed quietly on the urban fringe over the last four centuries. Even their latest incarnation as a national park and recreational hub has emphasized their separation from, rather than their connection to, the city.In this book, Pavla Šimková reinterprets the Boston Harbor Islands as an urban archipelago, arguing that they have been an integral part of Boston since colonial days, transformed by the city's changing values and catering to its current needs. Drawing on archival sources, historic maps and photographs, and diaries from island residents, this absorbing study attests that the harbor islands' story is central to understanding the ways in which Boston has both shaped and been shaped by its environment over time.

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Book SynopsisThe Boston Harbor Islands have been called Boston's "hidden shores." While some are ragged rocks teeming with coastal wildlife, such as oystercatchers and harbor seals, others resemble manicured parks or have the appearance of wooded hills rising gently out of the water. Largely ignored by historians and previously home to prisons, asylums, and sewage treatment plants, this surprisingly diverse ensemble of islands has existed quietly on the urban fringe over the last four centuries. Even their latest incarnation as a national park and recreational hub has emphasized their separation from, rather than their connection to, the city.In this book, Pavla Šimková reinterprets the Boston Harbor Islands as an urban archipelago, arguing that they have been an integral part of Boston since colonial days, transformed by the city's changing values and catering to its current needs. Drawing on archival sources, historic maps and photographs, and diaries from island residents, this absorbing study attests that the harbor islands' story is central to understanding the ways in which Boston has both shaped and been shaped by its environment over time.

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Book SynopsisCape Cod is known for its beaches, throngs of summer visitors, and the activities that accompany seaside living, but it is also home to several kettle ponds, which offer a more tranquil setting. Formed from glaciers breaking apart and so named due to a rounded shape that appears like a kettle, these waterways are home to a diverse array of wildlife, while remaining peaceful and even a bit hidden. Big enough for a canoeist to feel solitude and serenity, small enough to not appear on large-scale maps, Centerville’s Long Pond (one of seven on the Cape that share this name), consists of fifty-one acres of crystal clear waters, fresh air, and the fish, turtles, waterfowl, muskrats, and otters that call this special place home. In A Moving Meditation, Stephen G. Waller offers an intimate look at the pond’s intriguing natural and human history; its abundant animal life, across the seasons; and the encroaching effects of climate change.Trade ReviewFollow the natural year around with Waller and learn the science and phenology of one particular kettle pond on Cape Cod. You will also learn the pleasures of a quiet respectful life of observation and care, and the meditative joy of floating in a canoe in a place you love." - David Gessner, author of Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American WildernessTable of Contents Preface 1. Geology: Created in a Single Moment 2. Aquifer: Water Level Theater 3. Herring Run: Highway for an Epic Migration 4. Counting Herring: Come and Go 5. Springtime: Awakening and Blooming 6. Vegetation: Climax, Invasive, and Endangered 7. Water Quality: A Legacy of Casual Behavior 8. Ice: Through Thick and Thin 9. Fair Winds and Following Seas: Moving Meditation 10. Paddling: The Value of Pure Quiet 11. Canada Geese: Honking and Pooping 12. Bird Life: Endless Activity 13. Otters and Muskrats: Erratic Fellows 14. Fish and Turtles: Year-Round Swimmers 15. Salt Water: Exotic Habitat 16. Trash and Externalities: The Long View Notes

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Book SynopsisIn Embracing the Seasons Gunilla Norris shares her soulful and thought-provoking observations of a year lived in the countryside and reflects on the abundance and meaning of nature and its cycles of renewal. This journey through the seasons has been shaped by being home in an old farmhouse with its large garden of flowers, vegetables, brook and pond, surrounded by a country landscape of stone walls, woodlots, and living creatures. The book begins in the spring, with the birds singing in the darkness of dawn and the buds knobbing up on the trees and bushes, and then circles through the warmth and richness of summer, the golden bounty of fall, and the dark serenity of winter. Until it is spring once more. Embracing the Seasons opens our eyes to ordinary wonders and not so ordinary meanings in the small events and encounters of the everyday. By illuminating the joy and beauty of daily life, it is an invitation to find and honor the sacred in the place we call home.Trade ReviewPRAISE for Gunilla Norris's "A MYSTIC GARDEN": "...Norris cycles through the four seasons of a gardener's heart...[She] writes lyrically about dormancy and transformation, soil and nourishment, roots and blossoms."--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY "...a worthy addition to [Norris's] writing and a pleasure for those of her readers whose need for an everyday spirituality...extends to the garden."--LIBRARY JOURNAL PRAISE FOR GUNILLA NORRIS: "I was almost breathless with wonder at the beauty of Gunilla Norris's words--so simple and yet so profound, striking home gently because they are so true, so authentic."--Bishop DESMOND M. TUTU "Gunilla Norris's simple precepts for meditating and living have a translucent quality. We can all benefit greatly by observing them."--THICH NHAT HANH "Just when I had about given up, along comes Gunilla Norris to reaffirm the possibility of writing prayers about real life in today's world."--Rabbi HAROLD S. KUSHNER "Gunilla Norris's meditations are beautiful and human and show the glory in the ordinary."--MADELEINE L'ENGLE

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Book SynopsisEmbracing the Seasons is a soulful journey through the seasons of a year in a country garden. Gunilla Norris shares her observations of this garden and the surrounding land with its trees and shrubs, its flowers and vegetables, its various living beings, its brook and pond and stone walls—and she reflects on the abundance and meaning of nature and its cycles of renewal. The year begins with the arrival of spring, with the birds singing in the darkness of dawn and the buds knobbing up on tree branches and bushes, and moves through the warmth and richness of summer, the transitions and changes of fall, and the clarity and quietude of winter. Until it is spring once more. Along the way we encounter a pair of finches building a nest; an old quince tree in bloom and the peonies in glory; the pond with its dragonfly and snapping turtle, water lilies and frogs. We see the splendor of daylilies and the sturdiness of hostas, hear the buzz of bees and the chorus of cicadas, sense the abundance of honeysuckle and wild grape. There is the planting of dahlias, cucumbers, basil, and impatiens in the spring, and the raking of leaves and stacking of firewood in the fall; the harvest of tomatoes, peppers, and raspberries in late summer, and fresh snow and rabbit tracks in the winter woods. Embracing the Seasons opens our eyes to ordinary wonders and not-so-ordinary meanings in the small events and encounters of the everyday and invites us to remember, to care for, and to venerate the life around us.

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Book SynopsisIf cats really did have nine lives, none would live all of them as fully as Buffy, an orange tabby from the suburbs of Chicago. In the course of his lifetime, Buffy was a bartender, a judge, a DJ, a teacher, and a dental hygienist. Like many who live and work in a city, he spent his days eating breakfast, commuting on public transit, going grocery shopping, and enjoying a cold beverage at the end of a long day. There were the chores—mowing the lawn, chopping firewood—but then on weekends, he laid out at the beach, took the kayak out on the water, went fishing, and relaxed by listening to music. Follow Buffy along on 100 of his adventures, depicted in full-color photography, and learn what it means to make the most of all nine lives!

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Book Synopsis“What can I do, personally, about the climate crisis? . . . [Roop] says that civic engagement is one of the most effective ways for individuals to make a difference and to avoid feeling overwhelmed by the climate crisis....Ask yourself, what are you passionate about? Using this passion may motivate you to help shape the future of your community.”—The New York Times Climate Forward newsletterThis must-have book shows us WHY we need to take action now to combat climate change and then, critically, HOW, through easy-to-understand language and fascinating infographics that offer each of us varied and doable solutions to the many challenges facing our planet. As more focus is put on climate science, there is a need for each of us to learn how we can change our habits in our home, communities, and government to save our planet. Enter The Climate Action Handbook. A visually stunning guide, it does what no other climate change book manages to do: it's approachable, digestible, and offers the average person ideas, options, and a roadmap for action. It also offers hope—often overlooked in climate change conversations. Climate actions can create near-instantaneous improvements in air quality and can offer ways to address societal inequities, green our communities, save money, and build local economies. From food and fashion choices, rethinking travel, greening up our homes and gardens, to civic engagement and championing community climate planning, Dr. Heidi Roop shares 100 wide-ranging ways that readers from all walks of life can help move the needle in the right direction. Actions include: • Cutting down on food waste • Reducing your driving speed • Voting in every election • Using the cold-water cycle on your washing machine • Supporting healthy soils in your gardens and community green spaces • Engaging in local climate action planning • Preparing an emergency kit for your home • Deleting unused emails and online accounts • Swapping out milk for nondairy alternatives like oat milk • Opting for slower shipping whenever possible • Regularly maintaining and clean your heating and cooling systems • Engaging in climate conversations at work and at home And many more!Return to this invaluable resource again and again to discover a roadmap for action and much-needed hope. What will your climate journey look like?Trade Review“What can I do, personally, about the climate crisis? [Readers] often ask us a version of this question....[Roop] says that civic engagement is one of the most effective ways for individuals to make a difference and to avoid feeling overwhelmed by the climate crisis....Ask yourself, what are you passionate about? Using this passion may motivate you to help shape the future of your community.”—The New York Times Climate Forward newsletter"[The Climate Action Handbook] provides lots of ideas—like eating more plant-based meals, choosing slower shipping for deliveries, voting in every election, and supporting youth climate activists. ... The ideas are accompanied by striking illustrations that help readers understand what they can do and why it makes a difference."—Yale Climate ConnectionsTable of ContentsContentsPreface Overview Greenhouse Gases: Whey are they such a problem? Understanding the Scale of the Problem Understanding the Inequities of Climate Change Climate Action in Focus: Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Climate Impacts Across the United States Starting and Sustaining Your Climate Action Journey Action 1: Consider Collective and Individual Actions Action 2: Understand the Disconnect Between Our Actions and Our Impact Action 3: Be Privy to the Politics of Climate Change Action 4: Beware the Coordinated Corporate Anti-Climate Campaign Action 5: Center Action in Your Strengths and Passions Energy Production and Transportation Action 6: Know What Powers You…and Your Home Action 7: Support Renewables in Your Region Action 8: Curb the Cost of Renewable Energy Action 9: Weigh the Impact of Decarbonization Action 10: Commute Mindfully Action 11: Consider Carpooling and Rideshares Action 12: Buy and Drive an Electric Car Action 13: Drive Efficiently Action 14: Be Idle Free Travel and Work Action 15: Fly Less, Fly Economy Action 16: Vacation Closer to Home Action 17: Hotel or Home Share? Seek Out Eco-Friendly Accommodations Action 18: Reduce Trash When You Travel Action 19: Find Alternatives for Work-Related Travel Action 20: Divest and Reinvest Action 21: Learn More About Climate Financing Action 22: Work Remotely if Possible Action 23: Seek Out Climate Solutions in the Workplace Action 24: Reduce the Climate Footprints in the Buildings Around Us Action 25: Go Green and Cool with Rooftops Action 26: Consider Climate as Part of Your Career Action 27: Use Caution with Corporate Climate Commitments Food and Farming Action 28: Eat Your Broccoli and Pass on the Meat Action 29: Waste Not Want Not: Cut Down on Your Food Waste Action 30: Compost Action 31: Shop for or Order Your Meals Mindfully Action 32: The Climate Cost of Food Take-Out and Delivery Action 33: Thoughtfully Opt for Meat Alternatives Action 34: Switch to Non-Dairy Alternatives Action 35: Assess the Pros and Cons of Eating Local Action 36: Enjoy Your Chocolate Responsibly Action 37: Drink Responsibly--Imbibe with Climate in Mind Action 38: Get to Know Your Favorite Coffee Action 39: Support Local, Sustainable Fisheries Shopping and Consumer Choices Action 40: Reduce Consumption Through Community Sharing Action 41: Turn Away from Fast Fashion Action 42: Weigh Your Diaper Options Carefully Action 43: Ditch the Bottled Water Action 44: Reduce Your Consumption of Disposable Plastic Action 45: Learn About Microplastics and How You Can Avoid Them Action 46: Make More Thoughtful Online Purchases Action 47: Slow Down Your Shipping Action 48: Keep Your Devices Longer and Dispose of Electronics Properly Action 49: Shop Your Values (pull quote or other simple treatment) Action 50: Beware Greenwashing Actions Around the Home Action 51: Protect Your Property and Consider Where You Rent or Buy Action 52: Check your Insurance Policy and Premium Action 53: Prepare a “Go-Bag” and a “Stay-Bin” Action 54: Create a More Energy-Efficient Home Action 55: From Your Cooktop to Rooftop: Work Towards Electrification Action 56: Be Thoughtful About Your Air Conditioning Action 57: Go Solar Action 58: Lighten the Load and Switch to LEDs Action 59: Go Low Flow With Your Fixtures Action 60: Clean Your Clothes Efficiently Action 61: Garden for a Greener Planet Action 62: Reduce Waste and Recycle Action 63: Calculate your Carbon Footprint Nature-based and Natural Solutions Action 64: (Carefully) Consider Carbon Removal and Offsets Action 65: Learn About and Champion Bioenergy and Carbon Capture and Storage Action 66: Plant a Tree…or a Trillion Action 67: Reduce Your Carbon Offsets Action 68: Clean Up Your Dirt Action 69: Support Coastal Wetland Conservation Action 70: Conserve, Restore, (Re)connect Land Action 71: Go Green with Our Infrastructure Action 72: Plant Trees to Shade Houses and Buildings Health and Wellbeing Action 73: Protect Yourself and Your Community from Extreme Heat Action 74: Protect Your Air Action 75: Prepare for More Pests Action 76: Address Your Mental Health and Anxiety Action 77: Express Yourself Creatively Action 78: Buy Beauty Products Responsibly Action 79: Change Your Fitness Pattern and Habits Action 80: Cherish Your Winter Recreation Action 81: Pay the Appropriate Fees for Outdoor Recreation Civic and Community Engagement Action 82: Vote in Every Election Action 83: Engage Your Elected Officials Action 84: Champion Climate Planning in Your Community Action 85: Contribute to a Local Community Groups and Organizations Action 86: Support Youth Climate Activism Action 87: Share Your Observations and Experiences Action 88: Role-Play Climate Solutions Education and Climate Information Action 89: Act on Behalf of Your Children’s Future Action 90: Seek Climate Solutions for School Buses and Buildings Action 91: Teach Climate Change in the Classroom Action 92: Talk Climate with Our Kids Action 93: Be a Savvy Consumer of Information Action 94: Track the State of the Science Action 95: Look to Local Climate Science Leaders Action 96: Look to Local Community Climate Leaders Action 97: Talk About Climate Issues with Friends and Family Action 98: Get Social on Social Media Action 99: Embrace Your Inner Bookworm Action 100: Celebrate Success and Express Gratitude Conclusion: Continuing Your Climate Action Journey

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Book SynopsisPoems that break down, expose, and reconsider our notions of time. This collection speaks the language of the clock as a living instrument, exposing the sensory impacts of our obsession with time. In oh orchid o’clock, lyrics wind through histories like a nervous system through a body. The poems speak to how we let our days become over-clocked, over-transactional, and over-weaponed. With an instrumental sensibility, Endi Bogue Hartigan investigates what it is to be close to time—collective time, with its alarms and brutalities, and bodily time, intricate and familial. She considers how can we be both captured and complicit within systems of measurement, and she invites us to imagine how to break from, create, or become immune to them. Her poems use language to expose the face of the clock to reveal how gears press against interconnecting systems—economic, capitalist, astronomical, medical, governmental, and fantastical. Trade Review"The clock—its histories, oddities, dominance—is the mechanism of Endi Bogue Hartigan’s oh orchid o’clock. . . . As she evokes the timeless simultaneous information and activity our internet age allows, with its WebMD and newsfeeds and everything else searchable that is packed into these poems, the poet continues to make space for what is before and beyond our conceptions of time. . ." * Harriet Books *"oh orchid o’clock is a book about time, from delineations and attentions to the very loss of time: time sits at a marker from which all else is perceived, written, achieved or ignored. . . . Hartigan offers time as both metaphor and structure, writing of end times, lost times, made-up time, violent time, the times we pay for in advance. She composes this collection as an expansive tapestry of lyric squares, temporal shards and narrative moments, some in motion and others held in amber; time held and held up, turned slowly in the light." * rob mclennan’s blog *“Hartigan’s oh orchid o’clock fluidly rotates constructions of time: our violent times; scientific and philosophical time; the ‘orbit’ of digital time we frequently ‘visit’; the transportive materiality of deep time; the ruling ‘grip of time’ within the timepiece; the illusory ‘streaming of time’ that is ‘a perception trick’; and, critically, time ‘resolved’ or defeated by nature by ‘the orchid opal sky calculating nothing;’ by the imprecision of water, which is ‘the nemesis of all clocks;’ by fire, where the ‘clock surrounds . . . a foliage of flame, clockless.’ Here, in the book’s free rotation of poetic time, which is ‘something pure and round,’ we are not ‘absorbed’ by the ‘vertical worlds’ that ‘fall horizontally.’ Here, in the linguistic rotations constructed by poetry, we are not mere visitors of time or ‘tethered as a clockhand.’ Here, in oh orchid o’clock, we are new rotations, where ‘one side of the orchid is pointing at everything close.’” -- Amy Catanzano, author of Starlight in Two Million: A Neo-Scientific Novella“Time is in the center of this extraordinary poetry collection by Hartigan, who drives us (through a kind of incantatory speech) into a world of subversive syntax, of compressed and expanded language and, most of all, of meaning. This ‘apparatus,’ as the poet subtly refers to the compositions on these pages, rearranges the outlines of matter versus organic matter, of the objective versus the subjective in our known (and unknown) spaces, giving them a new range of expression, a new clarity, to signify and bridge. These poems connect the molecular to the universal to the public to the personal in a single breath. It’s a wildly original and ingenious book, but what catapults us into the bliss of this reading is a sense of finding (astonished) the 'arrows and notches' of our earthly human print.” -- Flávia Rocha, author of Exosfera“Hartigan, in this wondrous and fearsome mélange of meditation, rhyme, and wordwelding, pursues the vortex of Emily Dickinson’s dark conjuncture even as she mounts a Blakean charge against the modern tyranny of clock-time. Her oh orchid o’clock is rife with natural and mechanical marvels—scent clocks and snowflakes, marigolds and gym ellipticals—but its terribly ubiquitous mechanisms are the Taylorized workplace and the AK-15. Counter to these rapacious devices, Hartigan weaves a lush tangle of perceptions, drawn from the everyday, heightened by her deliriously acute ear. Not a knife-beak, not an ink fluke: public events toll ever more ominously in her Northwestern US, and yet these poems, lounging in the clock like certain creatures, lyrically undo the incremental fiction of the hours.” -- John Beer, author of Lucinda“Swirling with condensations and collisions of language, observations, societal and personal conditions, at the center of which abides a constantly fervently spinning heart, these poems also ask: ‘Can the clock burn?’ I think the clock does burn in these poems, also morphs and contracts and grows second (and third, fourth, other) second-hands, seeks alternate ways of counting, amplifying and expanding time inside the interstices that nest beneath and beyond what we can count, what we can comprehend. These poems are clocks of their own count and their own making, setting their tiny pulses against our current collective sense of an impending clock, to dream and create their own intricate, delicate music and meter and measure of what it means to be and feel at this particular moment in time.” -- Dao Strom, author & songwriter of Instrument/Traveler’s Ode“I am awed by Hartigan’s ability to inhabit time’s perplexities. Her sonically sensitive and wondrous meditations on continuity and chronology, accumulation and containment, contemplate the ‘measure of measure,’ each one finding a different way to mesmerize time to investigate its constructions. Never have I so intimately felt the bewilderment of being ‘off the clock’ and of the clock. I love oh orchid o’clock’s quality of deep prayer, how it attends intimately to the feeling of time in lived experience, how it lets go of instrumentality to consider the instrument.” -- Mary Szybist, author of Incarnadine"Open oh orchid o’clock, and you find yourself inside the clockwork maze of a Chinese incense box that releases each hour with a distinct scent. Let the hours teach, sing, dismantle and restore. These poems by Hartigan fathom time’s mythos in nesting dolls and gunshots, measures in galactic orbits and fractals or intervals between ravages and respite as by the Nilometer—the unit that ancient Egyptians used to calculate the precisely rising levels of the Nile between successive flooding. Hartigan’s work shows us the cuckoo in the clock but also the clock in the cuckoo: how time resides in the body, grips the imagination, how it is transactive, a factory of simulacra, a secret seam between what has passed and what is yet to come. The extraordinary richness of this book lies in its showcasing of language as a worthy opponent in wrestling the giant of time; how a phrase, even a phoneme can lock as well as set time free, how poetry can contend with the eternal and the sudden, how the lyric can subdue time’s machinations with a pulse all its own: chiming, colliding or stilled at will—'I am free to fill the silence with denser silence,' the poet declares—a triumph for us all." -- Shadab Zeest Hashmi, author of Ghazal Cosmopolitan

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisAn epic poem touching on issues of racism, intolerance, and environmental destruction, from the Booker Prize–winning author.There is much to celebrate in the human journey so far—art in all its forms, advances made in the fields of technology and medicine, and for many of us, the miracle of freedom. But there is also much to regret—racism, intolerance, the destruction of our environment, the reality and the legacy of slavery. In this long, sustained consideration of the state we find ourselves in, Ben Okri invokes the past to explain the present, and sings out a message of hope. The future is still ours to make.This epic poem, an anthem for the twenty-first century, first appeared in The Times in January 1999. Its message could hardly be more relevant to our present condition. Discover this revised edition of an inspiring and extraordinarily tender work.

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Book SynopsisA rich, joyful collection of poems on living and loving from the Booker Prize–winning author.Freedom is the most precious commodity in the world. In this powerful collection, the celebrated novelist, essayist, dramatist, and poet Ben Okri explores the beauty contained in each one of us—the freedom of our spirit, the child within. He recalls the death of his father, the sacrifices of his mother, the hidden river of Edinburgh, falling in love. He writes about Virgil and Mozambique, about ringing the bell for freedom, the dreams of Calliope and the full moon. He enters the fifth circle, sings of the roses of spring, and aligns the pyramids to the magic stars.This is a gorgeous, exciting collection for everyone who loves Ben Okri’s vibrant style, and a perfect introduction to new readers of his poetry.

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