Book #18
Field Study
By Helen Humphreys
The Calming Effect of Nature and Books
This book is simple and profound.
I felt as though the author and I briefly met (at least through her written word) before each going on our individual year-long journeys. There was a certain parallelism to the way we spent our years. For her, in the year she wrote this book she spent it at a herbarium. For me, I am spending my year in libraries. Both of these are quiet, thoughtful places of deep recorded knowledge.
I enjoyed the pace of her writing. Mine is more frenetic.
I am trying to cover more ground whereas she seems more meditative. I liked the slowness of thought that she used to observe each pressed plant. There was no rush to judgment. No need for answers. Just wonder and appreciation.
I think her way of writing is probably more difficult than mine. Since I am reading 52 books this year, that gives me a lot of content. There is a lot to talk about. The space always gets filled. With her work, there is more space to breathe and you can feel that in the gentleness of her writing. She describes her book as “meditations on a year at the herbarium” and reading it felt just like a meditation. Tell me what pressed flowers look like a century and a half after they were plucked. I want to hear more about that…
My (Lost) Connection To Nature
I have lost my connection to nature over the past ten years. I grew up in a small town and spent my childhood playing in the woods and water. It was peaceful, soothing, and revitalizing. It gave me space to think and breathe.
Now, things are different.
That same area does not feel like it used to. There is a tension there.
In those woods in the past few years a young man took his own life. Also, the police were called twice for violent crimes and once to remove a person without a home who had found a place to stay in the private, secluded woodland. All of this happened in only a few years. The energy of the forest is heavier, darker.
Wooded areas tend to take on any issues of the nearby towns- mental health struggles, drug use, homelessness, or violence… I feel it in my walks.
When I was a kid, I (perhaps foolishly) perceived no danger in those woods. I was oblivious to any threat of dangerous wildlife and was unafraid to walk by strangers, if one ever showed up.
Now, there have been increased bear and coyote sightings and people on those trails have become unpredictable.
I went from my typical small town habit of giving a smile and nod to anyone I passed on the trail to averting my eyes and pretending to be on the phone with someone, acutely aware that I was in the middle of nowhere with only a stranger around. I don’t get the same rejuvenation from my nature walks anymore. I can feel the new tension in my nerves and muscles.
Nature should be healing, though.
And it feels like a prescription that can no longer be filled, at least in my area.
I miss the feeling of being connected to my local surroundings. I miss the feeling of wanting to spend time outside. Perhaps though, I was just spoiled in my youth with the abundant nature that surrounded me. Now I am simply experiencing what other people are used to. I sure do miss it though.
Messy Bun Book Lover
(Originally posted on June 11, 2025)
Read Field Study by Helen Humphreys → https://amzn.to/42JR881
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