Landscapes: urban and wild

Two articles about trees in today’s NY Times caught my attention: one about the cataloging of the trees in Central Park (I was born across the street from Central Park, my first “green” playground), the other about the tornado damage to Joplin, Missouri’s trees. Both remind me of my love of trees. I’m a bona fide tree-hugger. In the article about Central Park’s trees, one of the men who has worked on the project advises us to “look up” through a tree’s umbrella, as well as “down,” in order to fully appreciate the tree.

All of which brought me back to an essential regional project of a few years ago: The Adirondack Atlas, by Jerry Jenkins, with Andy Keal. The Atlas is a work of wonder, and science, and love. If you spend time or live in the Adirondacks, this is a must have volume. Jerry works with the Wildlife Conservation Society, and his atlas was published by Syracuse University Press. You can also find it at booksellers and other shops across the Adirondack North Country.

Sometimes I wonder if my love of the rural life began as a small child lying under a maple or sycamore inside the stone wall of the west 106th Street entrance to Central Park. Oh, and one other odd connection between my childhood hometown and my adult “hometown”–the north country: Frederick Law Olmsted was one of Central Park’s designers, and he designed the grounds of the NYS Zoo at Thompson Park in Watertown.

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3 Comments on “Landscapes: urban and wild”

  1. jill vaughan says:

    this is an aside- but you mention local books. I love the Adirondack Atlas, and own it.

    You did a Reader’s and Writer’s on the book, edited by Bob Cowser, called, “Why we’re Here”. I can’t buy it anywhere in the region. I have stopped at any adirondack bookstore I know, gone to the chain bookstore in Syracuse- It’s on Amazon- but I want to support a local bookstore- and buy local I mean somewhere in NY- should it be this hard? I was sure the Museum in Blue Mt. Lake would have it- no.

    I’ve had my little pout- so I’ll probably order it on Amazon. But why should I have to?

    I love trees, too. Sorry to hijack your post.

  2. Ellen Rocco says:

    Stop by St. Lawrence University’s Brewer Bookstore on Park Street in Canton. Bob Cowser teaches at SLU and the bookstore carries all of its faculty’s published work. If they’re out of stock, they’ll reorder quickly.

  3. jill vaughan says:

    will do. thanks

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