Land of Grass and Sky: A Naturalist's Prairie Journey

i REALLY ENJOYED THE WAY THE AUTHOR INTERWOVE FACT AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. GOOD READ!

This is not a textbook, but when you finish reading this, you will have learned much. This is not a book of poetry, yet when you finish you will feel like you have found a new poet. This is not a book on travel, self-improvement, geographies, histories, but yet...when you finish it...you might have touched upon all of these subjects. Mary Taylor Young has flipped the veil off of the lands directly to the east of the Rockies, and has done so with superb writing skill, and superb teaching skill. You will join her and her insight while traveling the Plains. You will discover grasses, wildflowers, animals, homesteads, earth and sky. Her knowledge of these things is handed to us in language that we understand, and from a spirit that is inspirational and warm. Did you know Burrowing Owls often locate themselves in Prairie Dog towns? Did you know sage was medicinal to Native Americans? Did you know Colorado has a state grass? Do you know the difference between long grass, mixed grass and short grass prairies? Do you know a North American Antelope is really not an Antelope? Do you know it is ok to have a passion and love for the Prairie? If not, you will. I highly recommend this book. It is one of those books you will buy for friends. I have purchased four of them already! Thanks Mary...no wonder this book (this author) won such distinguished honors!!

This book is an engaging mixture of the author's personal experience woven into a wealth of natural history of the Plains region. The illustrations by her husband are an added bonus.

Land of Grass and Sky is like your first drink of morning when you shake sleep from your limbs and stand at the window, breathing deep and stretching. It is fresh and clean and wakes you to a new vision of what may have seemed a stale landscape.Mary Taylor Young's song of the prairie alternates classic images of big sky and waving fields with practical tips and throat-gripping stories of survival. When I tried to read the dust-storm passage aloud to my husband, I could barely finish, my voice shook so much and my chest felt so tight. It is a terrifying passage, perhaps too close to home as we face the worst drought in recent memory.In the end, I reluctantly closed the cover of the book, feeling as if I was just returning from a lovely and soul-nourishing morning walk on the Great Plains.