| The
Singing Wilderness |
Monica
Jakuc |
| Nov
04, 2005 14:41 PST |
Dear ENTS,
Now that I've finally negotiated my way through myriad offers
and ads,
and with Bob's help, I've found the list. I'd like to share this
quote
from a book that Lee Frelich gave us after his October ENTS
visit.
from "The Singing Wilderness" by Sigurd F. Olson, p. 9
"Some years later I discovered a stand of virgin forest
known as the
Northwest Corner. Here were tremendous trees, the last of the
old
primeval stand, and on the ground huge moss-covered logs soft
and spongy
with decay. This spot was different from any other I had
known.......I
used to tiptoe into that timber and creep stealthily from bole
to bole,
thrilled with strange and indefinable sensations, some of fear
and some
of wonder and delight. Those ancient trees, the green-gold
twilight
among them, the silence of that cushioned place did something to
my
boyish soul which I have never forgotten."
Does anybody know where the Northwest Corner is?
Sigurd F. Olson is one of my favorite nature writers. As a
musician, I
love his concept of the "singing wilderness." The
passage above
describes one such song, for much of the song is in the silence.
Monica |
| Re:
The Singing Wilderness |
Edward
Frank |
| Nov
04, 2005 17:23 PST |
| Re:
The Singing Wilderness |
Lee
E. Frelich |
| Nov
07, 2005 06:53 PST |
Monica:
I am not sure where the northwest corner is, but it is likely to
be on
Burntside Lake, north of Ely, MN. Some 250-300 year old pine
stands still
exist there, and their understories are totally moss covered so
that its
like walking on a mattress. I know some people who were friends
of Olson
and I will ask if they know exactly where the northwest corner
is.
Olson also lived in northwestern WI near Hayward, where
Uhrenholdt Memorial
Forest is named after Olson's father in law, but that forest is
not old
enough to have had moss covered logs in Olson's time (its only
140 years
old today, and it is not far from Paul Jost's land and some of
my earthworm
research sites). As a small child Olson lived on the Door
Peninsula only
a few miles from my family's house, and his mention of that area
is in a
different essay where he describes a shoreline of large
limestone boulders
with waves and seagulls that he views from an old dock, which is
in Sister
Bay, WI, where he says he first heard the Singing. That area has
ancient
cedars, but the understory is not moss covered, so that can't be
the
northwest corner.
Incidentally, The Chair of The Wilderness Society has officially
designated
me as The Sigurd Olson Memorial Lecturer for 2006.
Lee
|
| RE:
The Singing Wilderness |
Monica
Jakuc |
| Nov
07, 2005 10:18 PST |
Dear Lee,
Maybe someday I'll get to see that lovely forest. Burntside
Lake
sounds like a good candidate, but I'll await your consultation
with
Olson's friends. And then I'll start hatching plans to go
there.....
I'm thrilled that the Wilderness Society had the vision to make
you The
Sigurd Olson Memorial Lecturer for 2006--it's a perfect fit.
Monica
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