THE COMFORT CROWS: A BACKYARD YEAR

THE COMFORT OF CROWS: A BACKYARD YEAR by Margaret Renkl

The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl is a book that speaks my language. If you are the type of person that loves watching nature go through its seasonal transformations or if you are the type of person that enjoys watching the habits of animals in their natural surroundings, then this book is for you.

Renkl sets her book up in four parts. Each part is dedicated to a season. Within that season she divides her writing into 13 weeks and tells about the natural happenings around her home. Included in the natural happenings are the seasons of life that she is facing as her children "leave the nest."

 I began this book before we officially crossed from winter into spring here in Ohio. I thought it would be a fun one to read as the year progressed, but I found that it was a book that I was drawn to, especially in the evenings when life was quieting down. Since it is divided into weeks, it is a book that was easy to pick up and put down without feeling like I'd lost a story line.

At the beginning of each week, artist Billy Renkl (the author's brother) has included a beautiful piece of artwork depicting parts of Margaret's writings. The pictures are delightful and give the book the feel of a field guide of sorts. I really enjoyed having the concrete divisions between the weeks that gave the book an overall feeling of individual parts.

HEADS UP- There was a mention of billions of years a time or two, but Renkl's focus is on what is currently unfolding in her yard in front of her.