Edge Effects
Notes From An Oregon Forest
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- € 19,99
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- € 19,99
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Buying his dream house several years ago on the forest’s edge near Corvallis, Oregon, essayist Chris Anderson hoped to find the joys of rural living. Despite interminable Mr. Blandings experiences, he lived embowered by 12,000 acres of seemingly endless fir trees. But not for long. The McDonald-Dunn Forest was about to become the site of a disturbing research project. Little did Anderson know when he bought his house that, in addition to studying the ecological effects of clear-cutting, the researchers wanted to see how urban fringe dwellers might be affected too. The shock of that harvest compelled the essays in this vibrant, graceful record of the relationship between the forest and Anderson’s life on its boundary.
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A sensitive observer who mixes nature writing with personal tales, freelance essayist Anderson offers episodic reflections on life on the edge of McDonald-Dunn Forest, a 12,000-acre research forest outside Corvallis, Ore. When residents responded to a planned clear-cutting, Anderson--who had moved to the forest for silence--found himself embroiled in theories and words. Speaking to a forestry class on behalf of local homeowners, he thoughtfully catalogues what makes a landscape pleasing and discusses the importance of learning to observe and read the forest slowly and regularly. Yet his affection for his surroundings fosters ambivalence: he becomes weary of the responsibility of having to learn about and master the forest. When he ventures afar, Anderson remains interesting: in the ``biosphere'' of the enormous Edmonton Mall, he finds everything the frigid city lacks. Reflecting on his forest walks, he acknowledges feeling neither Thoreauvian intensity nor deep Benedictine contemplation; rather, the repetition ``has the effect of meditation or liturgy.'' Portions of the essays were first published in magazines like Commonweal and the Georgia Review. Photos not seen by PW.
