BOOK CLUB REPORT Met Saturday March 27 Members Present: Charlotte, Luce, Michele, Mary
Every now and then, you pick up a book, start reading it, know that it something important to read, but get stuck on it's style instead of it's content. Then only to discover, the more you read it the more interesting it gets. "Natures Best Hope" by Douglas W. Tallamy is one of those books. It is also a book that can change your life and challenge your views of the world. For fifty years, we have been told that the ozone layer in our atmosphere is changing because of human behavior. We have been told that climate change is happening because of our conspicuous consumption. But often, we have not been given a proactive plan on how to change those behaviors. This book explores ways we can do that in our small yards or in large places. This book also examines why we as as a human race have the need to control the natural world. Should we take responsibility for the damage we have caused to this planet with it's finite supply of resources? Should we try to fix what we have destroyed? "Natures Best Hope" also shows us how interconnected we are not only to each other, but to the plants and animals that we share our space with. That there is a reason why native species of plants are important to have in our yards. Even though exotic plants are beautiful to look at, they don't harbor the nutritional needs that birds and insects depend on for survival. They are the potato chips and soda in the natural world; fun to eat while watching television, but offer no real nutrition to fuel our bodies. We want to leave a legacy to the generations that come after us. We want to leave them a healthy planet. Maybe in the future perfectly coiffured lawns will not be valued as much as they are today. Maybe the status symbols will be how many species of bees and how many different kinds of birds feast in our yards. After reading this book you will never look at an oak tree and a caterpillar in the same way.
Our next meeting will be the last Saturday in May at 2:00 and we will be reading The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.
We will be meeting every other month on the last Saturday of the month. We chose the next two books we will read: May---The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh