The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year

“Age has given me an internal source of warmth, and hubris has given us all a burning planet, but I still love the seasons of light and color.”

From the book’s opening pages, Renkl describes the difficult tensions in writing about nature: tensions between awed reverence and burning regret, between the individual and the collective, and between the urge to do something and pessimism about the future. Renkl explores these conflicts through her work, writing as a way to soothe her spirit regarding the encroaching destruction of the world she loves. Age, Renkl suggests, has given her a mature understanding of how to resolve these tensions.

“I will catch the fox, or I won’t, but never again will I be free to walk away forever.”

Each of the interactions Renkl describes leaves an impression on her. She may or may not catch the fox, she points out, but the memory of the fox stays with her. This speaks to the theme of Bearing Witness to Ordinary Beauty as Environmental Stewardship. The natural world defies conventional thinking in the most awe-inspiring manner possible. Renkl can’t just walk away from such power.

“Year by year, the creatures who share this yard have been teaching me the value of an untidy garden.”

Renkl narrates The Comfort of Crows in an authoritative voice. While she may be educating her audience, she presents herself as a student of the natural world. She learned the benefit of an untidy garden from the creatures themselves. Renkl doesn’t limit her learning to books or human knowledge; ironically for a writer, she encourages her audience to accept education from a world beyond writing.