Sky Time in Gray's River: Living for Keeps in a Forgotten Place

by Robert Michael Pyle

An ecologist reflects on the natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest as he describes the lives of plants, animals, and humans through every season of the year during his thirty years in the village of Gray's River, near the mouth of the Columbia River.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Environment, Science, Memoir

246 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Robert Michael Pyle is a lepidopterist and a professional writer who has published twelve books and hundreds of papers, essays, stories and poems. He has a Ph.D. from the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. He founded the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation in 1974. His acclaimed 1987 book Wintergreen describing the devastation caused by unrestrained logging in Washington's Willapa Hills near his adopted home was the winner of the 1987 John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Nature Writing. His 1995 book Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide was the subject of a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Reviews

[Lin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. I am a bit sad to have finished it. Bob's optimism during a time when and from a place where that can be challenging is uplifting. If you need a good dose of gratitude, this is a great place to start. His universality makes you feel like you have a new friend. I have had the good fortune to meet him briefly a couple of times at readings at our local bookstore. I sincerely hope that I get this opportunity again.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful and beautifully written account of the 12 months living in a place I’ve come to love: southwest Washington state. Such a cozy book, a comfort to read.

[Peg Lotvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sky Time is a love letter from Mr. Pyle to the place he lives. Gray's River (note the apostrophe) is in Southwestern Washington state. He notes that geographical place names have lost the apostrophe when maps are made.
I feel like I have spent a couple of days with Mr Pyle and his family rocking in his favorite chair with his favorite cat in my lap. Hummingbirds flashing around the flowers planted by his wife and just all in all having a lovely visit.
He does warn people to not flock to his home place. They would not like the rain........and they would ruin it.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the tradition of journaling, Pyle chronicles the phenology of a year in the tiny village of Gray's River, from the arrival of mew gulls to the valley in January to the ripening of thistles in July, to the celebration of Christmas at the local grange. Pyle's poetic prose and attention to every marvelous detail of natural and cultural history, spiced with droll humor, make it a relaxing and instructive read.

[Robyn Pfeifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ode and love story to SW Washington. Made me homesick.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok it’s not that it was bad it was just not what I was expecting after reading the blurb on the back of the book .

[T.R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that Pyle, as he says in the notes and acknowledgements at the end, has cast in what he calls the 'phenological pastoral' tradition. It is an account of a place across the twelve months of the year; not any particularly year, but observations distilled across many years of living in place: along the Gray's River in Wahkiamkum County, Washington State.

To track phenology (or to use Pyle's term for it the 'calendar of the land') in some ways captures the essence of seasons and cycles in nature. To Pyle, in this book, it also circumscribes the calendar of rural life on land. The book is a portrait of life and landscape, of rural folk, farms, and fields, of wildlife, wind, and water, who share space under the 'gray' skies in the land where flows the Gray's River.

The writing is energetic and involved, but flags in rhythm and cadence. Evocative passages are interrupted by sidelines and asides that read like summaries of historical information, or descriptions inserted not because they are relevant, but more for the sake of the completeness of a portrait. The author's attachment to the place is apparent, but how that attachment came to be, whether as transformation or gradual awakening, is lost from the narrative, and sadly so.

[Susan Eubank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here are the questions we discussed at the Reading the Western Landscape Book Club at the Arboretum Library of the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden on August 6, 2014.

• What did you like best about the book? The least? Were these the strengths and weaknesses of the book?
• What effect did the author achieve with his writing style?
• What was your favorite new fact?
• Were there any confusing facts for you?
• What did you think about all the quotes, chapter headings and within?
• What was the most encouraging aspect of the book? The least?
• What has lingered in your mind since you finished the book?
• What about the water? Did you feel it?
• Cats? Is that too easy?
• What aspects of the rural environment do we have in the city that you wouldn’t necessarily expect?
• Who was your favorite neighbor and why?
• Did this book help you become a nature lover? Why? Why not?

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book at the now closed only independent bookstore in Olympia, WA soon after I moved here from my too fast paced life in San Jose, CA. I wanted to read a local WA author, plus I love covered bridges! I finally read it, and I'm so glad I have it.

Slowing down each night to read before turning in is wonderful. I found reading this book each night gave me so much peace. Bob's descriptions of his neighbors, each season with it's flora and fauna plus everything in his world is amazing. He paints beautiful pictures with words. It's a book to slow down to digest each sentence and story. There is so much to rural life I've never known or thought about. I learned a lot about the Grange, and we do support our local Grange's activities. I thought it was so cool that Nirvana bass player Krist Novoselic is a stalwart member of Bob's Gray's River local Grange.

This book is fun, enlightening and taught me I don't have to travel far to see something new every day — if you know how to look.

[Kathleen (itpdx) · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can I describe this book? Pyle’s beautiful use of language leaves me feeling my words are inadequate. What is it about? In his afterward, Pyle uses the phrases “ode to home ground” and “a closely observed country year” which come close. Pyle extemporizes on themes suggested by the passing months, placed in the Gray’s River Valley of southwest Washington, centered on his old farm house. He presents the natural history of the place from spiders to the community of humans that occupy this sodden corner of the world, his chosen home. He has great affection for the people, animals and plants of the area. He describes everything from slug copulation to the process of replacing the area’s covered bridge.

My only small quibble with the book is that even living near by I cannot identify many of the animals and insects that he talks about.

[Dale T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met the author briefly years ago when he was given an award for his conservation work, primarily with insects. An excellent writer and naturalist, Pyle has explored many subjects in the dozen or more books he's written so far. This book is a close look at the remote area of southern Washington state that he chose to live in over 30 years ago. He applies keen sight and insight to draw from those years to put together a detailed look at the area. Well worth a read and then perhaps a visit to the area to locate the covered bridge, stay at the Inn at the Lucky Mud and see other landmarks and colorful people living there. You might even meet Bob on a walk to retrieve his mail and get invited in for a a cup of coffee.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

A naturalist reflects over the cycle of the seasons, month by month, in the small southwestern Washington community where he's lived for decades. It is a fond portrait not only of the plants, animals, birds and insects, but of the people who live in this rural valley near the mouth of the Columbia River. The natural and human connections that form the way of life there are under stress but thus far holding up, though one senses further inevitable decline and unwanted transformations on the horizon. I almost stopped halfway through - the many descriptions of creatures' deaths weighed me down - but am glad I persevered. It is well written and carefully observed. However, the aspects of (especially human) life there that appeal to the author didn't so much appeal to me.

[Joyce Reynolds-Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book. Pyle brings his knowledge of butterflies and other insects as well as keen observations to a book which chronicles the yearly round of seasons in Gray's River. While I'm not familiar with Gray's River, I am familiar with life on the other side of the Columbia, so there are a lot of resonances there for me. But he doesn't just discuss the course of the seasons in the natural world; he also talks about the course of the seasons in the local community over the years. A lyrical tribute to a rural way of life which, alas, appears to be fading.

[Willowwind · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely recounting of the cycle of the year in my corner of the world by an award winning writer and biologist. Bob Pyle is intimately acquainted with his ecosystem and it shows in every tender detail. Do you know the day the thrushes first sing in your woods? I lived for many years only a few miles away so the details that may seem ho hum to those looking for adventure are delightful intimacies for me.

[Sandylew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another book that I read on the recomendation of my friend Bruce who is very in to nature and birding. This is written by a butterfly scientist about his property in SW Washington state. Its a beautiful meandering notation about life and nature in this area. Well written, along the lines of Edwin Way Teale. Very descritptive and lyrical, nice for contemplation. No adventure here.

[Shane]

Just getting into this one... I love natural history and books about place. So this book combines the best of both worlds for me. Robert M. Pyle is a Northwest legend and he writes this book about the Gray's River area with such an intimate voice. This book makes me want to have a fireplace and a cup of tea in hand. I'll update with my final impressions a bit later.

[Fernleaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful meditation on life in Gray's River, a small community in southwest Washington. Full of detailed observations about the valley and it's people this is a wonderfully reflective work about the pacific northwest and reminds us of all the little things there are to look out for here in our rainy home.

[Lyra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normally I love Robert Michael Pyle, once of my favorite nature writers. But this one just didn't capture my interest. It was a nice observation of the little things that make up a life of place, but somehow the glue holding it together seemed weak...

[Clif Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pyle is a very good nature writer and this is an enjoyable personal account of his life in an area in rural Oregon where he has lived for the last 25+ years. It is an observation of living in the country and the changes that occur throughout the year.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

bob is a dear friend and wonderful mentor to me, and this book is a slow meditation of what it means to truly inhabit a home and community.

[Cathy]

I'm about halfway through this book. Needs to be read in pieces, an essay at a time. Enjoyable for someone familiar with the area.

[Brenda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Save for another time!

[Maureen]

Read through the first three chapters or so. Interesting, but not super engaging. I'd like to give it another try again some other time.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my introduction to Robert Michael Pyle. Ever since I have wanted to visit his southwestern Washington home and experience what he describes for myself.

[Alex Krembs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. I understand after reading it why people were inspired to move to Gray's River.

[Joel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish. Nothing happens, he's a bit pretentious.

[Babs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful account of the flora, fauna, seasons and people in Pyle's area of SW Washington.