Columnist Paula DelGiudice: Nostalgic essays remain valuable

Paula DelGiudice

Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2000 | 5:18 a.m.

Paula DelGiudice's outdoors notebook appears Wednesday. Reach her at PDelGiudice@compuserve.com.

The waning days of summer in Southern Nevada seem about as far away from the misty autumn daybreaks that Aldo Leopold wrote in his "A Sand County Almanac" as Sydney's Olympic Games.

Leopold wrote his sketches about the seasons from his "shack" near the shore of the Wisconsin River near Baraboo, Wis., in 1943. He describes September as being a time when "the days break with little help from the birds." He writes about the silence at daybreak, particularly from the covey of quail that inhabit his farm.

The "farm" started out as an abandoned farm whose farmhouse was destroyed by fire before Leopold and his family purchased it. The only building left on the site was a chicken coop that was full of manure. Leopold actually used this as a selling point to his wife, Estella. He told her how much she would appreciate the fertilizer when she applied it to her plants.

The Leopolds bought the farm and began turning the chicken coop into a "shack" where they could spend their free time and weekends, reclaiming the farm. Every minute of spare time would be spent driving from their home in Madison, where Leopold accomplished research and writing for the University of Wisconsin. The coop became better known as "The Shack," a name it still carries today.

Over the years, what the Leopolds did to the shack was not nearly as impressive as what they reclaimed from the old farm. The farm had been abandoned in part because it didn't produce the desired corn crops. The first spring, the Leopolds planted nearly 2000 plants, trees and shrubs. The dry winds came and the rains stayed away. Most of the plants died. The family's persistence paid off, though, and the trees created a beautiful setting for the shack once more.

But what I'll remember most about my visit there several years ago was the fireplace built of river rock. I could imagine Leopold standing there with his pipe, leaning against the mantel. It was an awe-inspiring moment to come to a realization that someone who means so much to all of the wild things and wild places in our world had gotten so much inspiration from living at the shack and watching the earth respond to his love and nurturing.

He is called the "Father of Modern Conservation." So many of the modern concepts of wildlife management began with him. He helped found some of the leading conservation organizations in the country, including the General Wildlife Federation (that has since become the National Wildlife Federation). His philosophies of conservation education would hold him in good stead today.

But what Leopold did most for those of us who love wildlife and wild places is to leave us with his incredible words that make your imagination soar. Words that can take you to a marsh in spring as the geese return. Or to a ruffed grouse forest in October, even if you've never laid eyes on a ruffed grouse.

Though he died in 1948, what he left us is a collection of essays that can keep us close to his spirit -- "A Sand County Almanac." It will make you appreciate the seasons in all their glory.

If that doesn't get you inspired to spend these days of Indian Summer where it's beautiful and wild, nothing will.