Book Review- The Piedmont Almanac
author:  Dave Cook

In 1949, scientist and naturalist Aldo Leopold published A Sand County Almanac, a month-by-month journal of his observations of nature on his Wisconsin farm. This slim volume soon became a classic, with its delightful and thought-provoking collection of essays combining the science of ecology with reflections on the ethics of conservation and the value of nature to humankind. Now Piedmont residents have their own classic, in the form of The Piedmont Almanac. Written by naturalist, teacher and philosopher Dave Cook, The Piedmont Almanac is a treasure trove of essays and observations that follow the year in nature, week by week. The volume is the culmination of a lifetime of observing and communing with nature, and has its origins during the year of 1971, when Cook spent his senior year at UNC living in a tent on Bolin Creek. Inspired by Thoreau and a professor, Dr. Carroll Hollis, to whom the book is dedicated, Cook spent the year taking long walks and recording his thoughts and observations in a journal.

The Piedmont Almanac is arranged with a separate chapter for each week of the year, like small packages waiting to be opened. Each chapter begins with a list of the flowers that typically bloom during that week, and which insects, amphibians, birds and mammals can be seen or heard. Since these listings result from years of personal observation, it is fitting that Cook includes a space for the reader’s own observations of the week. As he says in his introduction, "…we should keep some record of the world, and the one we see is the one we should write about." 

The jewels of this volume, however, are the essays. Cook treats readers to the wonders of nature in a way that makes you want to go right outside to see for yourself! That these short essays not only teach, but inspire awe and curiosity, is a testament to Cook’s skills as a writer, and the sprinkling of entries from his past journals read like poetry. Interspersed among the essays are the magical illustrations of Susan Beebe and Emma Skurnick. The inclusion of these artists’ works completes the feeling that this book is a gift to the heart. 

Cook delights the reader with a combination of personal observation, folklore, science and philosophy that awakens us to the wonders of life just outside our doors. From the dropping of deer antlers in late winter, to morel season in spring, from the flight of the hummingbird moth in summer, to gathering persimmons in fall, The Piedmont Almanac is your ticket to nature’s dance card. This is a book to keep close at hand, one you will want to refer to often as you go about your own journey of observing, enjoying and embracing nature. It is also a book to share, for the rhythms described in its pages are nature’s gifts to us. In receiving these gifts, we can rekindle the knowledge that we are also part of nature’s cycle. 

Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac challenges us to view land and nature as members of a community, changing the role of humans from conqueror of land to citizen of it. Cook reinforces this message with The Piedmont Almanac, stating, "…it is a principle role of the human to be conscious, even reflective, upon the processes of life, and it is the purpose of this Almanac to nurture us in observing the circular parade of days, with the departures and arrivals of the splendid and diverse expressions of life." 
 

For everyone who has ever wondered about Warblers, rejoiced over wild blackberries, or given a fleeting thought to a daddy longlegs, the Piedmont Almanac is your connection to the intricate and delicate web of life in the Piedmont. 

- Donna Deal

15% of the proceeds from your purchase of The Piedmont Almanac will be donated to the Eno River Association when you buy it through the Association. Call 620-9099 and pay by check or credit card.