Sense of Wonder

Fourteen years ago my wonderful hubby gave to me a very special gift for Christmas,an original out of print copy of "The Sense of Wonder" by one of my favorite authors, Rachel Carson. Those that know me well, know I am a confirmed book-aholic. In my mind there are few gifts that rate higher for me, then a well thought out book. Most of my books are nature books and field guides, besides the several hundred children's books I collected while my kids were little. Reading has always been a favorite pastime for me for my entire life. As a young mother, I read to my four sons every night, it was such a wonderful way to end our days. As a child it is how I gained most of my knowledge about animals and the natural world. I love having field guides to ID the flora and fauna for where ever I have traveled and will travel to someday! That gift from my hubby with its message is still precious to me fourteen years later Not a year goes by that I don't annually read it cover to cover. It is a short easy read, lots of pictures, but does magical things for me every time I open its pages. It reminds me to "keep alive my Child's inborn sense of Wonder and renew my own delight in the mysteries of the earth, sea and sky." Rachel Carson was a very special person who's time on earth was way too brief, she died of cancer at the age of fifty-six when I was only five years old. During her short stay among us she wrote many books about her beloved sea, which she had a Summer home in Maine on an Island. Every Summer when we return to Maine I can't help but think about her, and her writings, I look at the ocean with different eyes since reading all of her books. She was a poet as well as a scientist, naturalist. She is one of my hero's. Rachel's most important work was "Silent Spring" it was a pioneer work, written in 1962, on pesticides and what they were/still are, doing to our earth. It was written well before anyone knew about them, and that what they were spraying on their farms, in suburban lots and parks was poisoning the earth and all it's creatures, including us. Her writings have inspired me to be more more conscious of every chemical I use,outside as well as in my home, including typical household cleaners, shampoos, make-up, even what I choose to use on my Petey. I have found, nature knows best, the closer we stay to her wisdom, the better and healthier our lives will be. So far so good! Thank you Rachel for having touched my life so deeply and kept my sense of wonder alive well into my middle age.