Welcome to Litsy!

This is not the first review of the New Year you seek [insert Jedi Mind trick here].

I finished my final book of 2024 just after midnight. Shh. 🤐 It counts. It‘s also an unabashed pick. I learned so much about the lands, animals, plants, and peoples of the American West. Though an occasional essay seemed to strike an odd tone (like “Four Letters to My Father,” which I found too composed, or “Boom! Erosion of Belief”, which I found gimmicky)…👇🏻

Terry Tempest Williams, quoting Simone Weil,

“A truth that goes almost unrecognized today, is that looking is what saves us.”

Terry Tempest Williams, reflecting,

“We have made a cult of busyness and in so doing we have forgotten the simple truth of paying attention to the view before us, between us, in a word, a cultivation of intimacy.”

I think my word for 2025 might be “intimate.” It feels kind-of perfect.

Do you have a Word of the Year?

I woke up early, before the dog even (though he‘s up now), and have been reading these essays steadily, in an effort to finish before the New Year.

In some ways, it‘s been a peaceful morning, full of a quiet I rarely get to luxuriate in. But each essay has made me cry. TTW writes of the establishment of Bears Ears National Monument, “It was about America looking into the deep future rather than into the narrow exhaust pipe of today.” 👇🏻

“The California condor was on the brink of extinction in 1987 with only 22 individuals left in the wild…When their immense wings, spanning 11 feet, cross over you, casting their shadow as they soar effortlessly…you feel the temperature drop…Each time I hold a condor in my binoculars, I am reminded of what care has been taken to keep their ancient spirits alive.”

We should all be bowled over by awe and desperate to protect our planet. Just look!

“Our hands are tied today by Washington‘s special interests…our economy is more important than ecology; conservation is mocked by capitalism; what we consume matters more than what we contemplate. When it comes to wilderness, “the open space of democracy” drowns in the wake of greed.”

I‘m now making a small monthly donation to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Other ideas for how to help are welcome!

https://www.nrdc.org

Went to the library (one I don‘t work at 😅) in search of peace & quiet. Remarkably, I found it! This is the stack of books that asked to come home with me.

#Naturalitsy

5/5 questions it made me ask: what is to be from somewhere? What does it mean to change? It was so special hearing her read it as well.

Powerful, insightful, heartbreaking, angering - author talks about the loss of national parks and the impact it‘s having on individuals, politics and educational institutions.

“We need not lose hope, we just need to locate where it dwells.”

1. My mom says I practically taught myself how to read, and I honestly don‘t have any memories where I don‘t know how.
2. Tagged!

#two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

And of course found the books in the gift shop! And learned they have authors speaking there!

This essay collection looks at many erosions - of the self through aging and life trials, of the land, and, mainly, of the American political culture. TTW‘s strength is in the personal essay, and the essays included here are passionate, insightful, and beautifully written. Other pieces were not as strong, but the collection overall was powerful. 4⭐️

Its pie week on the semi final of the great canadian baking show - not as popular as the british original but still fun to watch, I've also got lots of snacks & planning on reading some more of this book later as well

spending my saturday morning with these ^
I just picked up Erosion at my library yesterday & I'm excited to get started with it + hopeing to finish at least one of these this weekend - I'm about halfway through in at least two of them & don't have much planned this weekend so I think this goal should be achievable 😃📖📚

"We are eroding and evolving, all at once."

Terry Tempest Williams tackles the theme of erosion and undoing throughout these essays - examining topics of public lands, family, career, belief. There is an underlying tension between connectedness and grief that I've experienced in her writing before.

TW for Trump-led destruction of protected lands, harm to Diné communities, and suicide.

Terry Tempest Williams' essay collection When Women Were Birds is such a powerful read. Today she posted the cover for her new collection, coming out in October. I think this cover is gorgeous!