Category: Garden Book Review

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”
― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Have you ever I climbed a mountain and beheld the sights when you arrived at the top?  I have and the one that I remember the most was in the Adirondack Mountains , a short climb to an outlook called Eagle’s Nest.  When I got to the top, I sat on the immense boulders and cast my eyes on the view before me.   I saw a sight I could never forget. Several lakes surrounded by brilliant autumn colors.  I sat there in the sunlight for hours taking in the majesty and absorbing the spiritual energy.

Mountains are said to symbolize vision and energy.  We can connect with our higher selves there, and I have felt that immense energy there.  And as I have created my wildlife garden, I have found that same connection.  Every time I see these amazing natural vistas whether at home or away, I am thankful for this wonderful Earth.  And that gratitude is a major reason I have continued to recreate my garden into a wildlife friendly space in the midst of expanses of lawns, and chemicals for the upkeep of those lawns and to get rid of every wildflower, weed, critter and insect found on or near those lawns.  In creating a more organic, wildlife friendly space I am finding a way to give back to the Earth.  And the wildlife that visit are pure pleasure and delight.  Right now the bird activity alone is amazing as there are sparrows and bluebirds already nesting.  The birds have increased in number each year in my wildlife garden  which feeds them with only the insects and native plants found in the garden (and a bit of suet for the woodpeckers).  For this post, I am using pictures of birds that have been foraging in the garden so far this spring.  The robin above was getting rained on and is a bit out of focus as he was shaking off all the water.

What better time to think about the Earth and what we are doing to give back than to celebrate Earth Day in a way that is meaningful.  I thought another way for me to give back would be to read a special book that symbolizes Earth Day as I link in with Holley’s Garden Book Review meme.  I chose the book , Silent Spring, which is the book that helped launch the environmental movement.  I did not read this book when I was in middle and high school in the late 60s and early 70s.  I wish I had, but no matter it is as timely today as it ever was.

____________________________________________________________________________

Silent Spring

Author: Rachel Carson

Paperback:  400 pages

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co; Anniversary edition (Oct 22, 2002)

Amazon Price: $11.10

In A Few Words

I love the premise of the book.  What if suddenly the birds were gone, there were no bees and blooms, farmers couldn’t raise any baby farm animals, there were no fish in the streams and a white powder was found over everything.  People had finally silenced spring which never came again.  This premise paints a rather scary picture of the future.

 “It is ironic to think that man might determine his own future by something so seemingly trivial as the choice of an insect spray.”  ~Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

And even though this book was a statement about DDT, we continue to find that all the pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals we are using are probably killing our wildlife and creating more disease for humans.  While we are slowly accumulating the effects of this use of chemicals on our wildlife, our land and water the premise does not seem to be a fantasy.

Our local lake, Onondaga Lake, was until recently the most polluted lake in the world due to chemical and waste dumping by a big chemical companies and the local city and towns dumping raw sewage in the lake for years.  After lots of lawsuits, it is finally being cleaned and the shoreline replanted and reclaimed for wildlife.  We hope to see it revitalized and there are now signs of life in the lake like water actually being found in the lake along with varied types of fish and birds like eagles nesting on the shore.

But we never fully recover our environment and the effects seem to linger.  Case in point,  while the lake is being cleaned up the waste from the lake has to go somewhere, and that means burying it in the land nearby.

“Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species — man — acquired significant power to alter the nature of the world. ”  ~Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

What I Liked

Carson’s social criticism led us to take responsibility for our actions and helped launch the first Earth Day on this day in 1970.  We are living with the after effects of many of the mass spraying of chemicals the author references.  I find the book particularly relevant today as we continue to spray for mosquitoes here like we did for Japanese beetles in the late 50s.  The deadly effects may have been quicker to see in the 50s with 80% of song birds dead from the spraying as well as other critters affected.   But I can’t believe that today’s mass sprayings are not affecting the environment and people who breath in these chemicals.

I do find it sad that we continue to think we can control nature….rid ourselves of pests, insects, weeds.  Instead we are destroying the very soil we till with all sorts of sprays and powders.

“The control of nature is a phrase conceived in arrogance, born of the Neanderthal age of biology and the convenience of man”  ~Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Next up on the blog:  Monday brings another Wildflower Tale.  Then it will be May and the middle of spring…my favorite month during my favorite season!!

I will be linking in with Michelle@Rambling Woods for her Nature Notes meme.  It is a great way to see what is happening in nature around the world every Wednesday.

I hope you will join me for my posts once a month at Beautiful Wildlife Garden. See my most current post now.

As always, I’ll be joining Tootsie Time’s Fertilizer Friday.

Please remember, to comment click on the title of the post and the page will reload with the comments section.

All original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Gardens Eye View, 2010-2013.  Any reprints or use of content or photos is by permission only.