Customer Reviews

Wandering Through Winter: A Naturalist's Record of a 20,000-Mile Journey Through the North American Winter (American Seasons)

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The naturalist Edwin Way Teale wrote four books about his and his wife's 100,000-mile journey that crisscrossed America and its seasons: "North With the Spring" (1951); "Autumn Across America" (1956); "Journey into Summer" (1960); and "Wandering Through Winter" (1965). In nearly 1400 pages this quartet of books takes the reader off the beaten paths and onto a grand tour of the natural history of this country. The only other books I know of that are remotely similar to these are John McPhee's geological grand tour of the 40th Parallel, "Annals of the Former World" (formerly published as a four-volume set).

If Annie Dillard had abandoned Tinker's Creek and taken a pilgrimage across America, she might have written books comparable to Teale's opus magnus.

The author and his wife, Nellie are the grandparents everyone should have, pottering about the country, writing reams of lucid prose about their adventures. Teale's warmth and breadth of interests sustain our attention through the migration of a pod of gray whales, the discovery of hibernating poorwills in the lower Colorado desert, giant beavers on the Missouri, or a night in the 'sugarbushes' of New Hampshire. The pace might seem a bit stately to some readers, but Nature is stately. This is a trait that ought to belong to naturalists. It is the antithesis of the TV generation's notoriously short attention span.

Here then are the subjects in one chapter of the Teales' leisurely journey, "The Diamond Farm:" 'Plowing for diamonds'--'Two shining pebbles'--'A crop of precious stones'--'The volcanic matrix'--'Kimberlite rock'--'A quiet interlude'--'Diamond in the mud'--'The elegant searcher'--'Doodlebugs'--'A rare example of credulity'--'A turtle-carrying spaniel'--'Law of the White Queen'--'Sorghum molasses'--'Edge of the Ozarks'--'"Ridge runners"'--'Contracted names'--'The brown, historic river.'

Teale's black-and-white photographs form a meticulous record of their journey through an American winter, including one of Nellie in her hat, long coat, and stout walking-shoes amid wind-formed gypsum dunes. It is easy to fall in love with these books, and the couple who lived each chapter.

The whole "Seasons" series is well worth reading, although be warned, its about a less plastic urban sprawl America which we've well left behind in so many areas of our country, still if you wish to remember a simpler time, and enjoy nature this is a must read, along with the other books in the series.

I do, without equivocation, suggest any of Mr. Teale's books. I am working on my collection and getting what I can anywhere I can. His writing weaves a mysterious look in to the natural world in a way that makes you laugh and cry. These tales from days gone by will truly make you long for a simpler time and help you slow down and take in the beauty around!

This is truly one of the most boring books I have ever read! The entire book is written in plural "We", referring to he and his wife. They travel the Southwest and Texas and do not even enter snow country until the last few chapters. The author uses words like "hence" and "thus" and goes into elaborate and boring detail about every food they eat, and bird they see. The only redeeming aspect was that I learned about Bentley's amazing research and photography of snow flakes.