A Naturalist Buys an Old Farm

I haven't read much nature writing. This book doesn't convince me to read more. It's so... aimless. Hundreds of pages of Teale-- who I must admit, seems a very nice fellow-- just telling you things he's seen. He loves to count, especially: how many birds flew by, how many sequential times a frog croaked, how long it takes his wife to walk around a pond. But the numbers are just numbers. You don't learn anything from knowing them. Most of what he describes is just there, the book is a blaze of information not put into anything that would give it meaning. Though on the occasions he does moralize, it makes you roll your eyes. Aren't we all just intrepid little squirrels? Honest question: is all nature writing this purposeless, or is it show more just Teale? Or is it just this book, which was one of the last he wrote? He won a Pulitzer early in his career; that book must have had some kind of point, right?

There are occasional nuggets. As a local, I liked the bits of  Connecticut history he provided, from the founding of his town to some of the local characters. And the chapter where he flies over his property at dawn in a hot-air balloon is delightful. Also: I learned about Lake Char­gog­gag­ogg­man­chaug­gag­ogg­chau­bun­a­gung­a­maugg, the longest place name in the United States. show less

Couple buys an old CT farm in the 1950's? Sounds like a fun slice of life. Unfortunately I missed the word 'naturalist' in the title, so welcome to twenty chapters cataloging every squirrel that lives on the property. That said, there were some good parts talking about the history of the farm and domestic life. It's also easy to figure out when to start flipping pages (if more than four bird species are mentioned on a page, start turning).

Wonderful writings about observing nature on his own property and restoring it for native plants and animals. Teale was an early nature writer (this book dates from the forties) who sounds a lot like some of the nature-writing today. A great read.