My Own Backyard

Digging my way through Nonfiction Matters inspired me to take a look at some nonfiction in my life. I turned to Lost in My Own Backyard by Tim Cahill which I have been meaning to read for a while now — procrastinators always have a to read list handy.

The author contends that Yellowstone is America's backyard... but even though metaphorically that is true it literally was my backyard for a good portion of my life. Cahill writes like a local who wants to share Yellowstone and tells about his experiences in the park in a friendly informal voice.

I think anyone remotely interested in Yellowstone Park would find this a great read. He describes the wonders of Yellowstone and the things that just make you wonder. There is a sprinkling of history (Thomas Moran's paintings of Yellowstone "shredded the fabric of doubt" about whether a place like it existed) with much about geology and wildlife. Cahill made me curious about our earth which is "mighty beyond our imagining."

Mount Redoubt just left a dusting of ash across our fair state... imagine what it would be like if 37 miles worth of mountains just blew up in a matter of hours and buried Idaho in an eight foot thick blanket of ash. That is the furnace that burns Yellowstone. The fires are still burning.