The Efforts and Rewards of Naturalism

One day I buried myself, prone, in the muck of a muskrat house. While my clothes absorbed local color, my eyes absorbed the lore of the marsh. A hen redhead cruised by with her convoy of ducklings, pink-billed fluffs of greenish-golden down. A Virginia rail nearly brushed my nose. The shadow of a pelican sailed over a pool in which a yellow-leg alighted with warbling whistle; it occurred to me that whereas I write a poem by dint of mighty cerebration, the yellow-leg walks a better one just by lifting his foot.

A mink slithered up the shore behind me, nose in air, trailing. Marsh wrens made trip after trip to a knot in the bulrushes, whence came the clamor of nestlings. I was starting to doze in the sun when there emerged from the open pool a wild red eye, glaring from the head of a bird. Finding all quiet, the silver body emerged: big as a goose, with the lines of a slim torpedo. Before I was aware of when or whence, a second grebe was there, and on her broad back rode two pearly-silver young, neatly enclosed in a corral of humped-up wings. All rounded a bend before I recovered my breath. And now I heard the [call], clear and derisive, behind the curtain of the reeds.

Notes:

This passage describes the lengths the naturalist will go to in order to witness nature's miracles.

Folksonomies: nature wonder naturalism

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A Sand County Almanac (Outdoor Essays & Reflections)

Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book: Leopold , Aldo (2001-11-15), A Sand County Almanac (Outdoor Essays & Reflections), Oxford University Press, USA, Retrieved on 2011-06-10

Folksonomies: naturalism naturalist

Triples

10 JUN 2011

Examples of Naturalist Virtues in Action

The Efforts and Rewards of Naturalism > Conclusion > A Response to Leopold\'s Description
Cafaro sees a great deal of virtue in Leopold's description of the lengths gone to in order to witness and appreciate nature, especially the humility required for such an act.

Folksonomies: nature virtue naturalism humility