In this joyful compendium of woodslore, ancient legends, humorous tales, and perceptive insights, Doug Elliott opens our eyes to the world of plants and animals and the many ways of rediscovering our natural heritage. With the easy voice of a country storyteller, he shows how nature provides all of our needs - not only food, clothing, and shelter, but also the spiritual truths that can enrich and transform our lives.
In these pages you'll view nature through the eyes of many people from different walks of life, some who embody ancient wisdom, others with scientific knowledge, and still others who have been touched deeply by an encounter with the natural world. You'll hang out with Native Americans, Appalachian mountain men, and biologists. And you'll hear stories of Pentacostal snake handlers, hoodoo root doctors, possum breeders, and even a New York stockbroker, to name a few.
Doug Elliott also draws on his own adventures - hitchhiking across the country, sketching among the Rocky Mountains, capturing snakes, collecting folklore, and walking softly in the backcountry - to expound on plants and creatures great and small with enthusiasm and witty reverence. Join "Ranger" Doug as he stalks old time apples, hoots with owls, sips nectar from tulip tree blossoms, and hunts for the mystical, medicinal ginseng plant. Watch as he reveals beauty in unexpected places - the fleshy bald head of a buzzard or the graceful dancing ladies on a turtle's shell. And listen as he recounts Beaver Legends and Coyote Tales, The Night of the Living Skunk, The Serpent and the Egg, and more.
Beautifully illustrated with over one hundred drawings by the author, Wildwoods Wisdom is a journey of awakening, of being at home in a world we may not often see but to which we are forever joined.