Post by trinity on May 12, 2016 16:57:01 GMT -8
I have been remiss in posting reviews of books that I have read in recent months, so I'll be trying to play catchup. One of my faves was Fire Season: Field notes from a wilderness lookout, by Philip Connors. It is, as you would expect, an account of a single season in a fire lookout tower in the Aldo Leopold Wilderness down in the Gila. Connors has spent numerous seasons at this lookout, so he is seasoned and knowledgeable. It is not exactly fast moving or action packed, but very nicely captures the pace of life that takes over when one gets away from "civilization". The Gila is one of my favorite parts of the country, so I loved reading his observations, adventures, and musings during a summer spent in isolation surveying the surrounding landscape, occasionally venturing out on backpacking and fishing expeditions. Connors writes beautifully, and does a great job of capturing the natural and human history of the Gila, particularly the role of fire and the effects of fire-suppression in the Gila and throughout the American west. This book may not be for everyone because it is, as I mentioned, rather slow moving; but for those who appreciate solitude, wilderness, and long for a simpler, slower paced life, I think this is a really great book.
