Nature's Gifts Anthology

A Word From The Editor:
What, And Where, Is Nature?

The other day, my husband and I were taking a drive through the Santa Ynez mountains of California. What from the valley floor looked like a blanket of clouds covering the mountains became a river of fog once we reached the top. We sailed down the mountain road, afloat on this river, until we reached the viridian hills below and the fog once again became a cloud blanket.

This is nature.

Last week, we spent hours in the garden in front of our house, pulling weeds, planting primroses, sowing California poppy seeds around our back deck, watching a fierce hummingbird barely two inches in length terrorizing other, bigger hummingbirds at our backyard feeder, defending his food source from all other takers.

This is nature.

A cardinal sits patiently on her nest, only to have tragedy strike once the chicks are hatched. The dragonfly dies that the raven who eats it may live. The wolf pack takes down a sickly elk cow, thus strengthening the herd.

This, too, is nature.

Nature’s Gifts is a remarkable collection of essays, short stories, and poetry that reflect their contributors’ intimate relationship with this planet we call home. Within these pages you will read of places of exquisite wonder and beauty; of our bond with the plants and creatures who also call Earth home; of trillium blossoms and owls and salmon and how unique, how special, each species is; about the fragile balance we can so recklessly upset in the name of progress. Here, you will walk the trails of Glacier National Park and explore the tidepools of Southern California. Your heart will break, and your spirit will soar.

My hope is that, through the pages of this special anthology, you will develop the urge to get outside and experience nature’s gifts for yourself. You don’t have to travel far. Nature may be found in a window box planted with violas and geraniums on a city apartment balcony or at a backyard bird feeder. Wander a little further and you will find nature in a city or state park. Or, plan a vacation to one of our magnificent national parks.

Nature is in the tiny bee pollinating the apple blossom and the grand vistas of a Montana mountain peak. Nature is everywhere. You just have to look for it.

Nature’s gifts are for us all to share.

Smoky Trudeau, Editor