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lapazfarm
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| Posted: June 14 2006 at 10:17am | IP Logged
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I am in the midst of gathering new materials for nature study/science next year and came across this book:Suburban Safari
It is a really intriguing look into the amazing nature in our own back yards! I thought it would be especially appropriate for those doing nature study in a suburban environment, sort of like the "look what I saw in my backyard" thread. And I admit, when I saw the cover the first thing I thought was "This reminds me of Dawn!"
Here is a review from Amazon:
Amazon.com
When science writer Hannah Holmes decided to spend a year studying the inhabitants of her 0.2-acre patch of ground in suburban Portland, Maine, she went about the task with an ecologist's enthusiasm and a scientist's compulsive eye for detail. The result is an entertaining and effortlessly compelling examination of nature's stubborn (and successful) struggle to exist in the face of daunting manmade challenges. Holmes's lawn, unfertilized and rarely mowed, turns out to be a surprisingly diverse ecosystem of bird, mammal, and insect life--a self-perpetuating, constantly evolving community of chipmunks, ladybugs, spiders, slugs, and crows. These creatures, and the complex relationships between them, are the raw material for Holmes's incisive reflections on natural history, urban ecology, and the ignominious story of the over-irrigated, pesticide-laced American lawn--rolling out, Holmes notes, at a rate of one million acres per year. What drives Holmes is not just concern for the natural environment but a ravenous curiosity about every aspect of the world around her, from the sex lives of dragonflies and squirrels, to the murderous tendencies of the English sparrows that have colonized her land, to the survival strategies of the mosquitoes, sow bugs, and slugs that inhabit her yard by the hundreds. Holmes is an environmentalist to the core, but she never sermonizes. With Suburban Safari, an intimate, wry, and often challenging look at a world most of us never bother to notice, she ably demonstrates humanity's responsibility to a natural world that exists all around us--even in our own backyards. --Erica C. Barnett
Just thought I'd share!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Dawn
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| Posted: June 14 2006 at 3:59pm | IP Logged
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lapazfarm wrote:
| And I admit, when I saw the cover the first thing I thought was "This reminds me of Dawn!" |
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Ahem, do you mean because of my keen nature study skills, or because of my obsession with squirrels?  
But seriously ... Theresa, the book looks great! I need another nature book like I need a hole in the head, but this one looks right up my alley! Thanks for the tip! 
And this reminds me ... I'm toying with the idea of putting together a nature study "carnival" a la Amy's Heart and Home and Alice's Marian Altars, and I've been trying to think of a name/theme for it - Suburban Safari sounds right!  Anyone interested?
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
By Sun and Candlelight
The Nature Corner
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: June 14 2006 at 5:39pm | IP Logged
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Oh, pick me! Pick me!
Well, except I'm not suburban. More rural than anything. Can I still come?
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Dawn
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| Posted: June 14 2006 at 8:00pm | IP Logged
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lapazfarm wrote:
Oh, pick me! Pick me!
Well, except I'm not suburban. More rural than anything. Can I still come? |
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I wouldn't dream of doing it without you, Theresa! I will start a new thread tomorrow - I'm off to bed now! 
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys
By Sun and Candlelight
The Nature Corner
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Suburban Safari
