The Thunder Tree: Lessons from a Secondhand Landscape - Hardcover

Pyle, Robert M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0395466318 ISBN 13: 9780395466315

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (Trade), 1993

Synopsis

When people connect with nature, they do so in a specific place, and The Thunder Tree shows how that connection can change a life forever, how roots in the earth can be as important as roots in a family. For Bob Pyle, that place was the Highline Canal in Colorado. When he first discovered it as a boy in the 1950s, the canal and its surroundings were largely a wasteland, an accidental wilderness on the edge of a growing city. But as he grew up, the canal became his sanctuary, his teacher, the place where he developed a passion for the natural world. Once, a stately cottonwood along its banks literally saved his life during a freak hailstorm.
By showing how the course of a life can be changed by a piece of land, Robert Michael Pyle argues eloquently that if we fail to preserve our opportunities to explore nature, we will diminish our lives and our culture immeasurably. Rich in history, poignant, and beautifully written, this is a book you will never forget.

About this title

From the Back Cover

When people connect with nature, they do so in a specific place, and The Thunder Tree shows how that connection can change a life forever, how roots in the earth can be as important as roots in a family. For Robert Michael Pyle, that place was the High Line Canal in Denver, Colorado, which he first discovered as a boy in the 1950s."From the time I was six," he writes, "this weedy watercourse had been my sanctuary, playground, and sulking walk. It was also my imaginary wilderness, escape hatch, and birthplace as a naturalist. Later the canal served as lover's lane, research site, and holy ground of solace."In this lyrical memoir and unforgettable portrait of place, Pyle argues eloquently that if we fail to preserve our opportunities to explore nature, we will diminish our lives and our culture immeasurably. (51/2 X 81/4, 240 pages)

Synopsis

The author remembers his first encounter with the wonders of nature as a child in the region of the High Line Canal in Colorado and describes how this special place became both sanctuary and teacher.

Edition details

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (Trade)
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0395466318
• ISBN 13: 9780395466315
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224