A New Breed

I hadn't heard of Linda Hogan or Wendell Berry before, but am now familiar with Edward Abbey through the other readings. Linda Hogan's introduction tells us little of her childhood except that she is a Native American born in 1947, which makes sense because she writes in her story about how the natives regard bats. Her actual story tells us more about her life than the introduction does, such as living in Germany and Minnesota. I didn't know what "Chickasaw" meant, so I looked it up and it is a Native American nation. The introduction also tells us she questions, "How are all of us, both human beings and the other species who are our kindred, to live?," in her writings. Since some of the past authors have been compared to Edward Abbey, I was glad to finally read about him and his writing. Edward Abbey's introduction tells us he was a "fire lookout and park ranger in the Southwest," which made him an environmentalist. I wondered how he got the job, how he came to be at Arches National Park, and if he had a family. Abbey wrote about his "love of the desert" and his "bitterness about its desecration by the miners, dammers, developers, and tourists." I thought it was interesting that Abbey was a "ranger at Utah's Arches National Monument," which brings his writings closer to our home and since I have been to the monument, I can picture what he is writing about. The introduction tells us Abbey writes with "sardonic honesty," and "declares war against the atrocities he has witnessed." Wendell Berry's introduction tells us little about his life except for living on "a worn-out hill farm in his native Kentucky," and mostly focuses on his writing subjects. The introduction tells us the author writes about agriculture, Kentucky, attitudes toward the land, and culture.



"The Bats" by Linda Hogan is an essay about the author's thoughts on and interactions with bats. Her curiosity began when she saw two bats mating at the zoo and thought it was so beautiful. Hogan then describes taking two hibernating bats from a cold Minneapolis park, in a box to her own warm yard to "protect the children." When she opened the box, "the bats were mating." The male bat died four days later after impregnating the female, who flew away after he died. Hogan talks about seeing a bat cave in Germany, which had been an "ammunition depot during World War II." Hogan seems rather perplexed by the bats, stating, "bats hear their way through the world," and goes to great length to hear what they hear, to relate to them. In "The Serpents of Paradise" by Edward Abbey, he writes about an April morning. Abbey tells us of the mice that live in his trailer in Arches National Park and how he encountered a snake underneath his seat on the doorstep. He thought about going back inside for his rifle, but says, "It would be like murder and where would I set my coffee?" He grabs a "long-handled spade" and "scoops" the snake up with it, while the snake attacks the metal and slithers under a sandstone slab. He warns the snake that he will "chop [his] head off" if he returns, which the snake does within a week. Abbey captures a gopher snake and lets him loose in his trailer to capture the mice and drive away the rattlesnake. A gopher snake returns in May with a mate, which Abbey watches with amazement. "An Entrance to the Woods" by Wendell Berry is about a walk he took in the Daniel Boone National Forrest on an evening in September 1969. He stops and looks for a camping place, with "a shelter," "an air mattress," and "a sleeping bag." He feels "sad, even though [he] is not looking for company or [doesn't] want any" and feels "haunted," finding it hard to live on a slower pace. He knows he will feel the pleasure of total freedom from the chaos of his daily life. After a restless night, he is awaken by a bird singing and continues on his walk. He comes across a rock inscription from 1903. He sets up camp for the night and declares waking up in nature is "the best part of the trip."



In "The Bats" by Linda Hogan, she writes, "Bats are people from the land of souls, land where moon dwells. They listen to our woes, hearers of changes in earth, predictors of earthquake and storm. They live with the goddess of night in the lusty mouth of earth," romanticizing their lives and what it must be like to be one of them. Her heritage as a Native American comes forth in this quote, because they respect animals and believe everything in the world is connected and has a purpose. She also says, "the bat people are said to live in the first circle of holiness. Thus, they are intermediaries between our world and the next." Hogan makes it seem like they are like the undead, sort of where the vampire myth comes into play, and how the vampires are connected to bats. In "The Serpents of Paradise" by Edward Abbey, he writes about the friendship he has with the gopher snake, saying, "we are compatible," almost making it seem like the gopher snake knows why the man wants him there and is okay with their arrangement. In "An Entrance to the Woods," Wendell Berry writes about a "heavy feeling of melancholy and lonesomeness" coming over him in the wilderness, which "does not surprise" him, because he usually gets it in a unfamiliar wilderness. I sure loneliness is normal for a nature lover to feel when they first get there, because they are used to conversations, busy schedules, and deadlines. Berry writes, "I am happy. A man cannot despair if he can imagine a better life, and if he can enact something of its possibility," making it seem like he enjoys the freedom to go and walk whenever he pleases, not having responsibilities at home and being able to rely on himself and nature.



There was definitely a lot of creepy crawlers in these essays, that I wouldn't want to run into. In "The Bats" by Linda Hogan, she writes about seeing the two bats mating at the zoo, which made me remember a similar story. When I was young, I went to the zoo with my girl scout troop and saw two lions mating. My mother told us the lions were playing "leap frog." I thought it was pretty interesting that the "American military had experimented with bats carrying bombs" and I was puzzled by this. To me, small bats wouldn't make the best attack subject and probably couldn't carry the biggest bomb. I hadn't heard of those experiments before, but the military was probably trying to use everything around them to attack their enemies. In "The Serpents of Paradise" by Edward Abbey, he writes about Arches National Monument as a "sanctuary for wildlife." When I visited the monument in 1994, I don't remember seeing any wildlife, just the desert bushes and the arch. I'm glad I didn't see any snakes. I like seeing snakes, if they are behind the glass at the zoo. I would never want to keep a snake as a pet. When I lived in East Layton, one of my neighbors got bit by snakes twice in her backyard facing the mountain. In "An Entrance to the Woods," Wendell Berry writes about a melancholy he experiences when he first gets to the wilderness, but then becomes happy when he embraces nature, which I can relate to. I, when I go camping, the first thing I want to do is set up my and go take a long nap or curl up with a book, while having the windows unzipped in the trailer. I usually go out at night and sit by the fire, roasting marshmallows. Then I'll maybe take a walk the next morning down to the lake, and over time, I enjoy it more than when I first got there.