For Priscilla Stuckey, a fundamental and heartbreaking misconception running through Western culture is that nature can be fixed, exploited, or simply ignored. Modern societies try to bend nature to human will instead of engaging in give-and-take with a living, breathing land community.
Using her personal experiences as the cornerstone, Stuckey explores the depth of relationship possible with the birch tree in our backyard, the nearby urban creek, the dog who settles on our bed each night.
Drawing inspiration from sources as varied as ancient philosophers and contemporary biologists, Stuckey challenges readers to enact a different story of nature, one in which people and place are not separate, where other creatures respond to human need, and where humans and all others together create the world.
With the eloquence of the great nature writers before her, Stuckey encourages us to open ourselves to the unlimited possibilities of a truly connected life.
"A tenderly woven collection of essays that blend personal reflections with spirituality, philosophy, animal behaviorism, evolution, geology and ecology . . . [An] entertaining and emotionally resonant book." ―✅Publishers Weekly
"Stuckey's book does make you look differently at the things around you . . . That is her point―for us to finally see nature, to remember to take in that beauty as we saunter by . . . It's a book about hope." ―Seattle Star