A Place between the Tides: A Naturalist's Reflections on the Salt MarshFor every nature writer there seems to be one special place that tutors him or her in the ways of nature and the relationships of humans to the natural world, including the spiritual dimension. For Thoreau, it was a pond; for Henry Beaton, a barrier beach; for Annie Dillard, a creek. For Harry Thurston, it is the salt marsh, that part of the planet where land meets sea. Based upon childhood memory and his naturalist's journals, "A Place Between the Tides" is the story of Thurston's return to the beloved environment of his boyhood when he moves to the Old Marsh, a 1.5-hectare marsh on the banks of the Tidnish River in Nova Scotia. Elegantly moving back and forth in time, from the present year through the past decade and all the way back to childhood, the book describes the seasons in the life of the marsh as filtered through two decades of Thurston's living there. Blending acute analysis and a poet's lyricism, Thurston explores and examines one of the most productive and biologically diverse habitats on Earth, a habitat that has been degraded relentlessly since European settlement, making the few standing marshes precious because they are so vulnerable and vital. |
Contents
The Old Marsh | |
Tracks in the Snow 29 | |
The Day the Ice Goes Out 47 | |
The Rite of Return 68 | |
A Tidal Clock 108 | |
The Hidden Marsh 128 | |
Twin Realms 149 | |
A Time of Turmoil 167 | |
The Sacred Hunt 186 | |
Out of Place 203 | |
The Boy at the Window 220 | |
Notes 233 | |
Common terms and phrases
aboiteau animals Bay of Fundy beak birds black ducks blue heron blue-winged teal breeding brook Cathy Chebogue Chebogue River clams coyote creatures creek crows cubs deer dive dyke e¤ect e¤ort eagle eelgrass eels eggs eyes farm father feeding feet female fish fishers flock flooded flounder gaspereaux geese ground harbor seal hawk head hooded mergansers hunter hunting islands kilometers land living look male mammals marine marsh grasses marsh pools mate mergansers meters mink minnows morning mosquitoes mother move mummichogs nest night Northumberland Strait Nova Scotia numbers Old Marsh osprey pair perch plants predators red-tailed hawk salt marsh seal season seems Sherman ship railway shorebirds skies smelts snow sound Spartina spawning species spring tides spruce storm stranded summer swallows Tantramar Marsh tidal Tidnish Tidnish River tree upriver vixen watch whale wild willets winds wings winter wood duck yellowlegs