This Month’s Book: Wild

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, by Cheryl Strayed follows a young woman through tragedies and trials through her healing on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). An inexperienced outdoors woman, Strayed embarked on a two month journey to try and find herself, her family, and a previously unattainable peace in her mind and heart. The trail provides a backdrop to her journey, guiding her through her own history and helping repair a rift in her heart.

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Getting out into nature is a wonderful way to push yourself, become closer to nature and the world around you. Hiking, camping, and generally getting out into the natural world is beneficial for all of us! Many of us use nature as a form of therapy, escaping to the coast, mountains, or desert to calm our nerves and rejuvenate ourselves. These experiences range from a few hours to a few months but are important. Strayed was lucky enough to be able to be able to experience the wild of the PCT.

The PCT is a 2,650–mile long trail which runs through Washington, Oregon and California from the border of Mexico to Canada. Travelers along the trail pass through desolate deserts and climb high mountain passes. It shows these adventurers the meaning of hot, dry, cold and wet. It brings you closer to yourself, nature and your companions on the trail.

While reading, the following questions came to my mind. Please use the comment section below to start or join in a conversation about the book.

• Strayed used the experiences on the trail to learn more about herself and to help herself heal. How have you used nature to help you in times of trial?
• From the beginning, Strayed shows an ignorance of the trail, such as her overly heavy pack, her lack of training, or knowledge of things like navigation. Do these trials show her strength and ability to succeed despite these hurdles or make her simply lucky to have survived?
• The PCT is a huge investment of time, something that most of us do not have. Can you have a similar experience on a shorter trip, such as one that lasts a week?

November/December’s Book

The NWF book club is changing from a book every month to one every two months. This session we will be reading A River Lost: The life and Death of the Columbia by Blaine Harden. Through the book we follow the history of the Columbia from a powerful, wild river filled with salmon to the mechanized river that we know today. Its power has changed from one of a crashing, wild river to the hum of power generation from dams and the water being pumped from the river to supply water for desert agriculture. The once abundant salmon have greatly diminished.

Questions while reading:

• The might of the Columbia now produces clean, cheap energy which helps reduce the impact of many Northwest cities. This clean energy comes at a price, however, as the dams have compromised our salmon runs. Is this reward worth the impact on our salmon?
• Like many great rivers the Columbia’s water has been used to bring agriculture to the desert. Without the dams, agriculture would not be able to thrive in these areas, but is comes at a great cost, reducing the amount of water in the river and in the case of some it means that these great rivers have run dry. Is this an appropriate use of our rivers or should we ensure that they are able to thrive along side of us?

Authors John Marzluff and Tony Angell take us through a journey of the intelligence, speech, insight, fun, passion, grief and risk which comprises the life of an average crow. Crows are many times associated with fear or annoyance but what lies within is more than meets the eye and ear.

Gifts of the Crow by John Marzluff and Tony Angell

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As I sit here writing I can hear the loud cawing of crows outside my open door. A small flock glides by to light on the roof of a boat outside. From their perch they have a good view of the kayakers that pass by and must put up with their annoyed chatter as they paddle swiftly past. My initial reaction is to find their loud conversation a nuisance and distraction; now however I find myself fascinated by the way they interact with each other and the world around them.

While I can’t guarantee that their cawing will turn to song in your ears, The Gifts of the Crow will insure that you never look at them the same way again. From talking to gift giving there is nothing common about the common crow.

The following are questions to guide you through your discussion about this book. Please use the comments section of this blog to join in the conversation and share your thoughts about the book and about crows.

• In chapter 5 the authors introduce us to a number of grateful crows who seem to use gifts of dead rats, seed and candied hearts to endear themselves to the humans who feed and take care of them. The authors argue that this type of behavior shows that they have insight; crows understand that they will be rewarded by their gift giving. Do you think that this shows insight or are these ‘gifts’ simply coincidental?
• Speech is not something that many people would associate with crows but students at the University of Montana in 1964 would have another opinion. The calls of ‘hear boy!’ that brought dogs racing through campus that year were from none other than a local crow (pg 41). This is one of many examples given of crows and other birds using language to their advantage. Do these birds really understand what they are saying or do they simply mimic us without having an intended consequence?
• Here at the National Wildlife Federation we advocate for children getting outside to play and interact with their environment but human children are not the only ones who enjoy playing outside. From surfing to pulling pranks on neighborhood pets crows seem to enjoy having fun almost as much as we humans do! What examples of this have you seen in your own life?
• In the final chapter the authors argue that we should be able to keep crows as pets. Would you ever consider sharing your home with a crow?