Between urban and wild Reflections from Colorado

Andrea M. Jones

Book - 2013

"In her calm, carefully reasoned perspective on place, Andrea Jones focuses on the familiar details of country life balanced by the larger responsibilities that come with living outside an urban boundary. Neither an environmental manifesto nor a prodevelopment defense, Between Urban and Wild operates partly on a practical level, partly on a naturalist's level. Jones reflects on life in two homes in the Colorado Rockies, first in Fourmile Canyon in the foothills west of Boulder, then near Cap Rock Ridge in central Colorado. Whether negotiating territory with a mountain lion, balancing her observations of the predatory nature of pygmy owls against her desire to protect a nest of nuthatches, working to reduce her property's vuln...erability to wildfire while staying alert to its inherent risks during fire season, or decoding the distinct personalities of her horses, she advances the tradition of nature writing by acknowledging the effects of sprawl on a beloved landscape. Although not intended as a manual for landowners, Between Urban and Wild nonetheless offers useful and engaging perspectives on the realities of settling and living in a partially wild environment. Throughout her ongoing journey of being home, Jones's close observations of the land and its native inhabitants are paired with the suggestion that even small landholders can act to protect the health of their properties. ... Probing the contradictions of a lifestyle that burdens the health of the land that she loves, Jones's writing is permeated by her gentle, earnest conviction that living at the urban-wild interface requires us to set aside self-interest, consider compromise, and adjust our expectations and habits to accommodate our surroundings rather than force them to accommodate us"--Ebook Library.

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Subjects
Published
Iowa City : University of Iowa Press c2013.
Language
English
Main Author
Andrea M. Jones (author)
Physical Description
185 pages ; 23 cm
ISBN
9781609381875
  • The view from home
  • Voyeur
  • First signs
  • Lay of the land
  • Where does your garden grow?
  • Five ways of seeing a mountain lion
  • Love letter to a sewage lagoon
  • Reaping an unexpected harvest
  • A walk in the park
  • Modern frontier
  • Tyranny of the visible
  • Contemplating the fire seasons
  • Weed duty
  • Horse lessons
  • Picking up the unexpected
  • Winter outlook
  • Fourmile postscript
  • A day with nothing more urgent than this
  • Return
  • My life as a weed.
Review by Booklist Review

Jones moved with her husband into rural central Colorado to be as close to nature as they could reasonably be. Always practical, they sought to live comfortably while disturbing the flora, fauna, and geology of their land as little as possible. The author explains that they did have to build a road and clear a plot for a house and barn, but she believes that was reasonable, being herself part of nature, not invasive and noxious. Coming to an understanding of her role in the environment, however, has been a struggle, which she describes in this collection of thoughtful essays. Committed to conservation, she has particularly questioned why she cherished her childhood memories of vacationing at Lake Powell in Utah despite having an adult understanding that the reservoir flooded beautiful Glen Canyon. Readers will enjoy her reflections as she recounts winter storms, container gardening, wildfires, keeping horses, and identifying weeds to pull.--Roche, Rick Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.