Measure of the Year: Reflections on Home, Family, and a Life Fully Lived

by Roderick L. Haig-Brown

Roderick L. Haig-Brown welcomes us onto his lush farm for a year of insights and observations. In this eloquently written account, Haig-Brown, his wife Ann and their four children tour us through each season, and teach us the ways in which the Earth governs the events in our lives. Haig-Brown observes salmon, blue grouse, blacktail deer and robins, with a soft eye and gentle appreciation for their trials. He discerns how the weather interacts with the land, and how the land interacts with our attempts at civilization. Haig-Brown also discusses his work at a magistrate, and the challenges of marriage, amateur book collecting, the craft of the writer, and the meaning of community. A snap shot of rural BC in the 1950s, Measure of the Year is a country story, told by a man happy in his chosen way of life.

240 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1990

About the author

Roderick Langmere Haig-Brown (February 21, 1908 — October 9, 1976) was a Canadian writer and conservationist, who is acclaimed internationally for his writing on fly fishing.

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite lovely, in a meandering way. I'd not read anything of Haig-Brown's before, but this was a nice intro. The book is month-by-month reflections on the natural world around Haig-Brown's homestead at Campbell River (circa 1950), interspersed with short essays on a bunch of other themes in his life. It's a leisurely book, and a leisurely read. The prose is always lovely, and if you care about the natural world of the BC coast, there are loads of interesting tidbits from his careful and sustained observation. A surprise for me was that he also speaks extremely eloquently about the project of liberal democracy in the mid-20th century (mostly in his reflections on being a local magistrate), about the relationship of the state to the individual citizen, and how this gets mediated by local institutions. A sense of statehood and political consciousness almost lost in today's much more cynical world.

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arranged month to month, this is a reflection of life on Vancouver Island in the 1940's. Interlaced with each month are essays on such subjects as community, family, gardening, livestock, etc. I especially liked "On Hunting" in which he eloquently examines the role of hunting in his life. Haig-Brown is a keen observer of the natural world around him and reports with a tone of great humility.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of his topics I really enjoyed such as stories about his family, local friends and events, working as a local magistrate and his travels. However, highly detailed descriptions of birds, plants and trees do not interest me to that level of detail. I also very much agree with his thoughts on conservations and government. I have looked without success for more of his writings.

[Cathy Houston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haig-Brown writes lovingly of his part of British Columbia; it reminds those of us who are country people at our core why we love it so much

[Ted Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written memoir of a leader in what was called conservation in his day.
A man of many parts, fisherman and fish expert, writer, family man. His views are of his time with one big exception. He threw himself into the fight to protect fish habitat and to stop the degradation of Strathcona Park from industry and government collusion. In this aspect, he was decades ahead of his time, and so, mostly on the losing side of efforts to protect wilderness.