Growing up just miles from the land that Aldo Leopold wrote about in "A Sand County Almanac", and then attending the same university that he taught at, and majoring in Natural Resources, I have a great respect for his work. It has influenced my life and attitudes towards nature and conservation. Now, his youngest daughter has written her own memoir, telling us how it was growing up with Leopold as a father. And how it affected her and all of her siblings. No, this is not one of those tawdry tales of a horrible childhood that seem so popular today. Instead, it is a loving and respectful telling of a wonderful family life. Stories of life at "the shack", family times and projects, and of family pets. It was very moving, and made me think even higher of Mr. Leopold's, and his children's, life work. There are so many great things about this book, I could write several thousand words trying to tell them all. Instead, I will highly recommend that you read it yourself. There are two short quotes that I would like to draw from, I hope without spoiling the book for you. One, when Estella writes, "To limit and restrict young people from a chance to experience native habitats or exciting places in nature is to rob them of something important and potentially wonderful. If we cannot teach our youth to love the land, then who, I ask, is going to defend it? Who will fight to protect it?" And two, "To be out alone in nature is to be oneself. I wonder whether that experience is going to be a disappearing phenomenon, as people increasingly go in groups to visit nature, or don't go out at all. In our society today we are experiencing a kind of retreat from nature. Denying a child the freedom to wander and explore in the woods "because it might be dangerous" seems like a wrong idea. What may be lost is a chance to develop a sense of community with the land, and an opportunity to know its beauty and diversity."
The book is extremely readable, not at all "preachy". I highly recommend it! ( )