Nature Literature discussion

Please add your comments about Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses here.

This will be my first time participating in a book of the month discussion! While I haven’t participated before, I am always interested to see what books other people are reading here. I My stack of “to read” books has grown significantly since joining the group.

I am excited to hear what other people think of this book, as Robin Wall Kimmerer is my favorite nature author. Her style of writing is just so peaceful, but also makes you want to jump up and get out there to feel that deep love for the earth yourself.

I started reading this book a few years ago but set it down when I picked up Braiding Sweetgrass. I liked the part where he discovered the little grotto hidden inside a ring of boulders with only one way in.
I will dig up my copy and start reading it again.

I will try to read this book this month. I've never been able to engage with *Braiding Sweetgrass* so I'm hoping this one draws me in.

Hello! I'm new to this group and I'm so happy I found you all! I was able to acquire the audio book for this today, thankfully. Hopefully I will be able to acquire the actual book later on this month or so as I've never quite made the leap into audio books. But I will make do with the audio book for now and I'm grateful for it! :) This book looks wonderful, by the way!

Hello Gia-- yes, you are new- I just resounded to you over on the Side Reads thread, but welcome to the group. We are glad to have you, and I hope you enjoy your time here. We read some great books, and the discussions are often detailed and interested.

Sher

Hello Sher, thanks so much for the warm welcome:) I'm looking forward.

Something that I have been thinking about as I have begun to read, is her familiarity of the land at the Biological Station where she is the director. It made me ponder on landscapes that I feel are ingrained in my mind like that. Three places came to mind. The University of Wyoming research station in Teton National Park where I worked for two summers, a camping site in Blanding, Utah where I camped lots with my family, and a northern mixed grass prairie research site in McLaughlin, South Dakota. I can close my eyes and picture the landscape around me so clearly, and can even pinpoint exactly where certain plant species are found in the areas. My experiences on these landscapes have been a huge part of making me who I am today.

I would love to hear others experiences of this level of familiarity with a certain place in the world.

Hi Megan:
Your post is so thoughtful. I appreciate thinking about this. For me that place is southeast Alaska where I spent 16 years. I can picture and feel and re-experience those muskegs (bogs) in my mind since I spent 1000s of hours hiking in those areas outside Ketchikan, Alaska. I remember all sorts of details. I also have a vivid memory of one forested area above our home on the beach-- about 2 miles above-- where we hiked many times. Much moss n(many different species) and pools of water and a running stream, ferns, and light coming in here and there in an otherwise darkish area-- a very magical place-- a place of unicorns. Sounds too fantastic, but I always felt the magic of that place and expected to see this other-world creature there.

Hi Sher,

Thanks for sharing. It sounds absolutely ethereal. What a beautiful place to have imprinted in your mind and heart. I have always hoped to visit Alaska sometime during my lifetime!

Looks like the book has already effected you, because you tried to the acknowledge the many different species of moss instead of referring to it in the singular.

Hi Megan-- I think I spoke of moss in plural, because I have spent so much time in the temperate rainforests in SE Alaska. I know there are many species. I answered your question, because I could and it inspired me, but I am not reading the book with you right now. I have read _ Braiding Sweetgrass_ though.

I am one of the moderators here, so I was checking in to make sure all was well with the discussion!

Thanks for your participation--sher

I read this book last spring. She describes a large resort where they wanted moss (and didn’t like her suggestions that it would take 100s of years to get what they wanted, so they went out and cut rock that contained such moss. She never gave the location. Does anyone know?

I loved the book and enjoyed how she wove herself and her family into the story.

Welcome Megan and Gia. Jeff, I don’t know of the resort.

I like how Kimmerer is such a descriptive writer that I can “see” everything she’s writing about.

The mosses, waterbears, and rotifers’ anabiosis and resuscitation is amazing.

I’ve finished this book. It offered a good insight to a tiny, beautiful part of our natural world.

In the Kickapoo section I was surprised to read of her work in the Driftless. This is the region where I live. As soon as she mentioned the different stripes of mosses above the river, I knew it was due to flooding. The Kickapoo is notorious for catastrophic flooding.

The chapter that has stuck out to me the most has been The Web of Reciprocity: Indigenous Uses of Moss. Specifically the sentences that she writes, “I got the impression that the stature of science would somehow be lessened if we include human relationships” and “But the web of interconnection had never before included me, except as an observer, outside looking in.” I relate to this so much, with my own background in NR Management. We are a part of it. With respect and understanding we can play a positive roll in the ecosystems. I have been trying to help my two year old son learn the plants around us. Because I want him to know the names of his non-human neighbors. As she also writes in this chapter, “losing their names is a step in losing respect. Knowing their names is the first step in regaining our connection.” Nothing brings my soul more joy then hearing his little voice say Brassicaceae as we talk about the wild mustard growing by the stream. I hope to share with him my love of the natural world, in a way that honors life, and makes him want to be a part of it.

Megan wrote: "The chapter that has stuck out to me the most has been The Web of Reciprocity: Indigenous Uses of Moss. Specifically the sentences that she writes, “I got the impression that the stature of science..."

Kudos to you, Megan, for teaching your son the names of plants at such a young age. You're doing something wonderful by demystifying nature for him and helping him recognize and value his connection to it.

I wish someone had taught me the names of plants, insects, and birds when I was young. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to these things. I'm trying to educate myself. I have to rely on looking things up in books or on google images to help me with identification. It's a poor substitute to having someone walk you through it.