THE WALKING READERS GROUP - TIDMARSH AUDUBON SANCTUARY

THE WALKING READERS GROUP - TIDMARSH AUDUBON SANCTUARY

Imagine walking through a bucolic setting with the words of a beloved poet or eloquent essayist in your mind. That is the goal of the Walking Readers Group that meets monthly at the Tidmarsh Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary in Plymouth. We walk, stop, read, remark, and take in the natural surroundings. Then we move on to a new spot.

Some of us are veteran bird watchers, others are novices. Some look for signs of reptile life, others take in the changing landscape of the old cranberry farm that is being actively restored to its pre-industrial condition through the efforts of Mass Audubon. Tidmarsh is the largest freshwater ecological restoration ever completed in the Northeast.

We have read the Native American poetry of Joy Harjo, N. Scott Momaday, and Maurice Kenny. We have mulled over the concepts found in the work of science writers Robin Wall Kimmerer, Ed Yong, Sy Montgomery, and Barry Lopez. We have drunk in the poetry of Mary Oliver, Robert Frost, Wendell Barry, and Emily Dickinson, to name a few.

Celebrating the Wonders of the Natural World

THE WALKING READERS GROUP - TIDMARSH AUDUBON SANCTUARYThere is something special about listening to words that celebrate the wonders of the natural world while experiencing directly, the sights, sounds, and textures of nature. Returning as we do to the same sanctuary month to month, we notice subtle and dramatic changes in the landscape, both cyclical and long-term. Through dredging the stream bed to bring it back to its original channel, thousands of dormant native plant seeds were brought back up to the surface where they have sprouted, bloomed, and flourished. Each season brings a new awakening of the land.

Frequently we stop at the hilltop overlook with its expansive bench seating and talk about how the author’s words have affected us. What memories or thoughts have bubbled up? Walking together and sharing ideas is not the only way to experience nature but it is a meaningful addition to more solitary ways of experiencing nature.

Past Walks in Nature

We have been meeting monthly for a full two years and the delight has not dimmed. Last September, we sat on the Volunteer Trail, closed our eyes and “Forest Bathed” after being oriented to the concept by the Japanese writer, Qing Li.

THE WALKING READERS GROUP - TIDMARSH AUDUBON SANCTUARYWe discussed “birding while Black,” by exploring the poetry and prose of naturalists, J. Drew Lanham, and Camille Dungy. It was a wake-up call to those of us in the majority to see things from a different perspective. Appreciation of nature has nuanced meaning to people from different ethnic backgrounds.

We juxtaposed reading Robert Frost’s poem “The Mending Wall,” which includes the words, “good fences make good neighbors,” with Mohawk poet, Maurice Kenny, who writes, “Stones must form a circle first not a wall.” What does this tell us about different relationships to the land?

Barnstable Land Trust sponsored two of our walks in 2024 – one focused on Mary Oliver’s poetry and the other on Native American poetry. Those walks were held at the Pogorelc Sanctuary in West Barnstable. More reading walks in this or other Cape Cod sanctuaries may be scheduled in the future if there is interest.

Walking Readers Group Open to All

THE WALKING READERS GROUP - TIDMARSH AUDUBON SANCTUARYFree of charge and open to all, the Walking Readers Group encourages nature lovers of all ages to read widely the nature writers, new and old, who bring fresh perspectives and ancient wisdom to our awareness of the natural world. We stroll, not hike. The idea is to take time, think, share, and commune with each other and with nature in a setting rich in sensory stimulation.

The Winter meetup time will be 10 AM in the Main Parking Lot of the Tidmarsh Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary in Plymouth. Please email to reserve your place as there is usually a fifteen-person limit.

Upcoming Winter Schedule:

February 1 : The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl

March 1 : Bright Wings: an illustrated anthology of poems about birds, edited by Billy Collins, illustrated by David Sibley.

April 5 : The Outermost House by Henry Beston

May 3 : The Universe in Verse: 15 Portals to Wonder through Science & Poetry, by Maria Popova

June 7: The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plants Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth, by Zoë Schlanger

THE WALKING READERS GROUP - TIDMARSH AUDUBON SANCTUARYGuest Author : Ellen Snoeyenbos, Founder
Retired Librarian and Nature Lover
For more information, visit: http://www.snoeytools.com/walking-readers

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