Embrowning Itself Moment by Moment
The UW-Arboretum's Curtis Prairie is far from Egdon Heath, and mid-October is a long way from the worst that November has to offer, but on a dark, overcast autumnal day, it's not surprising that Thomas Hardy comes to mind.
We were biking on Military Ridge the other day, when T said that the Dane County countryside around us was "embrowning itself." I thought that was a striking turn of phrase, and she reminded me it was from the opening lines of Hardy's The Return of the Native. Instantly it came back to me in a rush -- the excitement of that time many years ago when I first read my way into Hardy's novel, where Egdon Heath is not just a setting but almost the central character, the vast, unchanging moor that enfolds its residents in its history and timeless rituals.
Embrowning Itself Moment by Moment
The UW-Arboretum's Curtis Prairie is far from Egdon Heath, and mid-October is a long way from the worst that November has to offer, but on a dark, overcast autumnal day, it's not surprising that Thomas Hardy comes to mind.
We were biking on Military Ridge the other day, when T said that the Dane County countryside around us was "embrowning itself." I thought that was a striking turn of phrase, and she reminded me it was from the opening lines of Hardy's The Return of the Native. Instantly it came back to me in a rush -- the excitement of that time many years ago when I first read my way into Hardy's novel, where Egdon Heath is not just a setting but almost the central character, the vast, unchanging moor that enfolds its residents in its history and timeless rituals.