Between Grass And Sky: Where I Live And Work (Environmental Arts and Humanities)

228 Pages·2002·1.06 MB·English

by  Linda M. Hasselstrom

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B E T W E E N
G R A S S A N D
S K Y
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Environmental
Arts and Humanities Series
Series Editor / Scott Slovic
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L I N D A M . H A S S E L S T R O M
H h
between
grass and sky
W H E R E I L I V E A N D W O R K
University of Nevada Press
Reno & Las Vegas
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University of Nevada Press, Reno, Nevada 89557 usa
Copyright © 2002 by Linda M. Hasselstrom
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Design by Omega Clay
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hasselstrom, Linda M.
Between grass and sky : where I live and work / Linda M. Hasselstrom.
p. cm. — (Environmental arts and humanities series)
isbn 0-87417-522-4 (alk. paper)
1. Hasselstrom, Linda M.—Homes and haunts—South Dakota. 2. Poets,
American—20th century—Biography. 3. Women ranchers—South Dakota—
Biography. 4. Natural history—South Dakota. 5. Ranch life—South Dakota.
6. South Dakota—Biography. I. Title. II. Series.
ps3558.a7257 z4636 2002
818'.5409—dc21 2002004786
The paper used in this book meets the requirements of American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984. Binding materials were
selected for strength and durability.
First Printing
11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 5 4 3 2 1
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Dedicated to my mother (1909–2001), who taught me to love reading,
though she did not realize where it would lead me. She tried to appreciate
my books in lieu of grandchildren, and I thank her for her efforts.
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction / From Rancher to Nature Writer 1
I . L E A R N I N G T O S E E
Learning to See the Unseen 23
Whirlaway 25
Making Hay 30
Out to Pasture 39
The Owl on the Fence 44
A Mouthful of Mice 54
The Pot of Hospitality Still Simmers 62
The Totally Integrated Crawly Kingdom 66
Coiled in the Pressure Cooker 72
The Duck in the Highway Department 84
I I . H U N T E R A N D H U N T E D
Running with the Antelope 93
Black Powder Smoke and Buffalo 112
At the Rattlesnake Rendezvous 126
vii
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viii • Contents
Sleeping with the Grizzly 132
The Second Half of Life 143
I I I . W H O C A R E S F O R T H E L A N D ?
Cattle Ranching in South Dakota 157
The Cow Is My Totem 173
Waddling over the Dam 187
Rising from the Condos 194
Coda / Walking Burial Grounds 209
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Acknowledgments
I thank Scott Slovic for suggesting this book, for believing it would be worthwhile,
and for insightful suggestions; thanks to Trudy McMurrin for persisting in its ac-
quisition, and to John Mulvihill for his precise work in helping me say what I
meant. Thanks to Julie A. Johnson, and others before her, for directing me to the
writings of Rainer Maria Rilke.
All previously published essays have been revised since first publication:
A short version of “From Rancher to Nature Writer” appeared in “The Rise of Na-
ture Writing: America’s Next Great Genre?” M¯anoa 4, no. 2 (fall 1992): 84–86.
Sources for quotations in this introductory essay are: John Murray, “The Rise of Na-
ture Writing: America’s Next Great Genre?” M¯anoa 4, no. 2 (fall 1992): 73–74;
Rainer Maria Rilke, Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, translated by Anita
Barrows and Joanna Macy (New York: Riverhead Books, 1996), I, 2, p. 48; Wendell
Berry, The Long-Legged House (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1969), 149. Tom
Lyon, ed., This Incomperable Lande: A Book of American Nature Writing (Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1989), 74; Joyce Carol Oates, “Against Nature,” Antaeus 57 (au-
tumn 1986): 236. Also in (Woman) Writer: Occasions and Opportunities (New York:
Dutton, 1988), 66–76.
“Learning to See the Unseen.” Published as “Finally Learning to See the Unseen” in
“The Home Forum,” Christian Science Monitor, 1 May 1995, p. 17.
“Whirlaway,” High Country News, 23 December 1985: 16.
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