Prairie Time: The Leopold Reserve Revisited (North Coast Books) [Hardcover]

John Ross (Author), Beth Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 3, 1998 | Series: North Coast Books

In the rush of modern life, we measure our lives by the clock, the calendar, the timetable. But there are older rhythms in nature: the call of chickadees before the first hint of spring, the golden face of a compass plant in July, the first snowfall. These signs mark the passage of time in a world that Aldo Leopold knew well and eloquently described.
     With notebook and camera in hand, John and Beth Ross revisit the Aldo Leopold Memorial Reserve in south-central Wisconsin fifty years after Leopold’s death. Thanks to the efforts of Leopold, his family, and the Leopold Foundation, this once-ruined farmland is now largely restored to a natural state. The Rosses explore the terrain of this sandy land, encounter its natural citizens, and relate life here to its physical underpinnings. Following Leopold’s own practice of phenology, they note the seasonal changes: arrivals and departures of wild geese, the blossoming of the pasque flower at the edge of melting snow, the appearance of monarch butterflies on the milkweed. And further, they seek to find in this landscape an underlying morality, a communion of understanding, a sense of place in the cosmos.
     Beautifully illustrated with color photographs, the book also includes notes on the behavior, habitat, and human interactions with ninety-four species of plants, birds, and other animals found in the reserve. An extensive glossary explains terms from geology, ecology, meteorology, and related life and earth sciences.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Prairie Time is about relationships—among prairie and woodland, climate and weather, moraine and outwash, annual cycles and the chronology of natural events—and the human relation to the land.”—Nina Leopold Bradley

About the Author

John E. Ross is professor emeritus in agricultural journalism and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.  Beth Ross is a writer and photographer.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 230 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 1 edition (August 3, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299156605
• ISBN-13: 978-0299156602
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,657,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Prairie Time:The Leopold Reserve Revisited, March 29, 2001

By 

Kiya Smith (Portland, ME) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prairie Time: The Leopold Reserve Revisited (North Coast Books) (Hardcover)

John and Beth Ross are naturalists who are moved to poetic writing, in the traditions of Thoreau, Annie Dillard, and of course Aldo Leopold. Their descriptions are both scientifically detailed and poetic. The Wisconsin prairie is their inspiration, which they have studied and explored for many years.

John Ross, the writer, is time conscious: the book is organized around solstices and equinoxes, and early on he admonishes us that to truly experience the prairie one must be up before dawn. As we follow him in this close adherence to time we find that he leads us to a sense of timelessness, even eternity. In the process, we come to see the seasons in our own lives, and feel a sense of place in our own universe.

At times Ross shows us the prairie close in, on hands and knees. Other times the perspective is larger and we see the prairie in the context of the world that encroaches it on all sides. Finally, he brings us to realize that the prairie reflects the cosmos.

Beth Ross' photos illustrate the book perfectly. These photos also bring a sense of timelessness. It seems that because she walks the prairie often, she can afford to wait for the perfect light, the moment of blossoming, and it clearly shows in the luminous photos.

If you love nature and want to know more about the prairie, or know the prairie and want to find a sense of awe and inspiration, this book is for you.

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, thought provoking, vivid, must have book!!!, January 14, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Prairie Time: The Leopold Reserve Revisited (North Coast Books) (Hardcover)

The essays in this book are both elegant and thought provoking. John Ross writes about scientific discoveries in a way that compellingly connects them to the tangible, beautiful, everyday world. He makes us see how the passing of a glacier, the falling of an oak leaf, or the blooming of a flower are all bound together. Beth Ross contributes alphabetized plant and flower descriptions at the end of the book that are both informative and entertaining, inspiring further explorations of one's own.
Both authors served as photographers, and the pictures are truly wonderful. This is not your standard by-the-book nature photography. From luminous landscapes to glowing close-ups of the flowers and animals of the prairie, the photos provide new insight into the beauty of our natural surroundings.
It is a fitting tribute to Aldo Leopold that a new book of this caliber has been written focusing on the land he set out to rediscover. An absolute must for the shelves (or better yet, bedstand)of anyone who cares about the topic!