Book Review: "Worldly Matters. Essays and Short Narratives."   by Walt McLaughlin

Woodthrush Books, 2007.

Review by Martin Murie

Walt has done it again, this time concerning ultimate meaning of the universe and our place in its vastness. A collection of short essays, each of which tells a story that embeds us in forests and streams.

It isn't often that a writer connects actual physical presences in the woods and mountains to philosophical questions with the effectiveness that Walt manages. He has a degree in philosophy from Ohio State and years of woods skills, including a deft fisherman's fly line.

For example, this section:

"'Winter is smooth-skulled,' Gretel Ehrlich wrote in her book, The Solace of Open Spaces, 'and all our skids on black ice are cerebral.'"

"Ah, how well I know those skids. After five months of short days and icy winds my thoughts run as dark as a slow, deep river on a moonless night. By the time April arrives, I am usually chest-deep in existential angst, despite any declarations that I might have made the previous year about the meaning or value of life. This time around, though, my thoughts run especially dark. I've got pneumonia. Add to this the inescapable fact that my country is sinking slowly into the quicksand of war and my thoughts are a witch's brew, indeed. No wonder it's so difficult to catch my breath."

Walt remembers that David Thoreau died young, age 44, without benefit of anti-biotics and the thought is disturbing. ". . . shaken by the cold, hard fact that Mother Nature shows no preference for nature lovers. Surely, my day will come, as well."

At the end of the narrative comes a new resilience.

"I will regain wind and strength enough to climb mountains again -- probably for many years to come. All the same, it seems like I've stumbled upon somethig important here. And like so many others before me, I suddenly feel an urge to pass along this nugget of insight to those still caught up in the hype. It's the responsibility that many older people people feel thay have to younger ones, no doubt. But will the young listen ? Of course not. The gods do not take advice from mere mortals, especially when it comes to matters that do not concern them."

I am quoting at length to show the flavor of text that brings us directly into contact with beaver ponds, sounds of water, blooming flowers and trout that are biting, or not. And a myriad of details that we wild country wanderers savor and that often bring up thoughts of the meaning of it all. If you have an extra ten, buy this book. It will be a treat, taking you far from the pomposity and preachiness of so much nature writing.