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Dear Earth: A Love Letter from Spring Hollow
The true story of one couple who left their lucrative jobs in the city to return to nature documents their experiences in the heart of the Ozarks--in a cabin they built themselves--where they are learning to live with and preserve nature. IP.
164 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 1995
8 people want to read
About the author
Radine Trees Nehring
13 books23 followersFor more than twenty years, Radine Trees Nehring's magazine features, essays, newspaper articles, and radio broadcasts have been sharing colorful stories about the people, places, events, and natural world near her Arkansas home. She's also the author of a book of essays set in the Ozarks. "DEAR EARTH: A Love Letter from Spring Hollow" was published in 1995.
"Until I began to write about Carrie McCrite, I'd dealt only in facts," she says. "What fun it is to take those facts and the settings I love, add people entangled in problems and seeking answers to important life questions, and come up with mystery fiction that shares my world with readers everywhere."
Nehring's research takes her to the places her characters go. She's visited Arkansas tourist destinations, hiked hills and hollows, crawled through caves, spent time in jail (while training for the jail ministry), and--as a news reporter--interviewed officials in every branch of law enforcement. She and her husband John live in the Arkansas Ozarks.
Nehring's major at Principia College in Illinois was Fine Arts. She's done post-graduate work in English and creative writing at the University of Tulsa, and in the University of Iowa Summer Writing Program.
"Until I began to write about Carrie McCrite, I'd dealt only in facts," she says. "What fun it is to take those facts and the settings I love, add people entangled in problems and seeking answers to important life questions, and come up with mystery fiction that shares my world with readers everywhere."
Nehring's research takes her to the places her characters go. She's visited Arkansas tourist destinations, hiked hills and hollows, crawled through caves, spent time in jail (while training for the jail ministry), and--as a news reporter--interviewed officials in every branch of law enforcement. She and her husband John live in the Arkansas Ozarks.
Nehring's major at Principia College in Illinois was Fine Arts. She's done post-graduate work in English and creative writing at the University of Tulsa, and in the University of Iowa Summer Writing Program.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 19, 2025
Pleasantly surprising ✨☘️🌼🐢
I picked up 164-page book (without its dust jacket, I had to google what it looks like lol!) from @okgoodwill last Monday (because I like all things return-to-nature oriented).
Published by Brett Books in 1995, I was a little worried it would be A) a boring attempt at an autobiography, or B) annoyingly preachy on a topic I already agree with.
I was surprised because it was neither; it was written in the narrative voice of a “real author” who manages to be both engaging and informative at once.
She and her husband lived in Tulsa (that was a local surprise!) and always took their annual vacations outdoors. Once they stumbled upon the Ozarks, they impulsively bought a plot of land. What was not so immediate? Spending the next TEN YEARS OF WEEKENDS ONLY building their cabin by hand. Whaaat?? Who has that kind of time and patience?! (No kids)
Eventually they moved there full-time and expanded etc, but this was an
unconventional method that melded into a modern LHOTP deja-vu (I’ve recently reviewed the first Rose Years books wherein Laura and Almanzo also had trouble farming and gardening in the rocky Ozark soil).
Key takeaways—
Life is different in Nature,
Arguably better in Nature,
And despite popular cultural trends,
You will be misunderstood in this pursuit…
But it is always available to you,
This lifestyle
Of wonder
And miracles
And meditation.
There will be a period of having to un-learn city-think.
Ease (peace) >>> convenience
Enlightenment >>> Forgiveness
- educate yourself about the natural world *at least* as much as the human (headlines) world
In the rare case you find a copy of this book (I’m the first review on @goodreads !), I recommend! 4/5 ⭐️
I picked up 164-page book (without its dust jacket, I had to google what it looks like lol!) from @okgoodwill last Monday (because I like all things return-to-nature oriented).
Published by Brett Books in 1995, I was a little worried it would be A) a boring attempt at an autobiography, or B) annoyingly preachy on a topic I already agree with.
I was surprised because it was neither; it was written in the narrative voice of a “real author” who manages to be both engaging and informative at once.
She and her husband lived in Tulsa (that was a local surprise!) and always took their annual vacations outdoors. Once they stumbled upon the Ozarks, they impulsively bought a plot of land. What was not so immediate? Spending the next TEN YEARS OF WEEKENDS ONLY building their cabin by hand. Whaaat?? Who has that kind of time and patience?! (No kids)
Eventually they moved there full-time and expanded etc, but this was an
unconventional method that melded into a modern LHOTP deja-vu (I’ve recently reviewed the first Rose Years books wherein Laura and Almanzo also had trouble farming and gardening in the rocky Ozark soil).
Key takeaways—
Life is different in Nature,
Arguably better in Nature,
And despite popular cultural trends,
You will be misunderstood in this pursuit…
But it is always available to you,
This lifestyle
Of wonder
And miracles
And meditation.
There will be a period of having to un-learn city-think.
Ease (peace) >>> convenience
Enlightenment >>> Forgiveness
- educate yourself about the natural world *at least* as much as the human (headlines) world
In the rare case you find a copy of this book (I’m the first review on @goodreads !), I recommend! 4/5 ⭐️
Displaying 1 of 1 review