The Perfection of the Morning: An Apprenticeship in Nature

This book moved me. And it made me think.

As someone who also moved to very rural area when I married, I could definitely relate to the difficulty in finding one's place in my new environment. Like her, I found that Nature played a bigger role in my life out here, and struggled to find my place in my community, wondering how to meet and make friends with others who had lived here their entire lives and whose life revolved around the land. My situation was much tamer than hers, however, but her struggles and efforts to understand herself and a place in the world and within Nature resonated strongly with me. I also enjoyed the discussion of the changing rural world: this is happening in all rural areas, I believe, even those that have show more been relatively lucky in terms of good soil and weather. While I didn't always fully buy her philosophical and more mystical beliefs and interpretations of events or dreams, Sharon Butala writes very, very well, and I am looking forward now to reading some of her fictional works. show less

Sharon Butala tells the story of her life, focusing on her relationship with the land after she marries and moves to her husband's farm in the southwest corner of Saskatchewan. Her descriptions of the landscape, the remaining native short grass prairie are vivid, and the hay and pasture land, conjure vivid images.

I waited so long to read this book, I wish I liked it better. Her comments about scientists are annoying. I stopped reading when she said she didn't see things like a scientist, but like a human being. (Excuse me??) I don't think she must know any, or many, biologists.

pretty boring. i wanted to like it. this book won awards!

This book is the winner of the 1994 Spirit of Saskatchewan Award,The Saskatchewan Non-fiction Award and was nominated for the 1994 Governor General's Award. From the back cover: "In 1976 Sharon Butala left a promising academic career to marry a cattle rancher in southwest Saskatchewan. Overwhelmed by the isolation of her new life, she struggled to find a connection with the land that encircled her. Through her dreams and visions, Butala embarks on a spiritual journey to define herself as a woman and as a writer, learning along the way to find a guiding force in Nature. Evocative and moving, [this book] is a revelation of self and an affirmation of the healing power of Nature that will echo in the mind and heart."