The Search for a Sense of Wildness

With the scents and sounds if not the temperatures of spring finally arriving in Leelanau County, I have begun to feel a certain itch. No, it is not the effects of allergies, at least not in the traditional medical sense. Instead, despite plenty of skiing and hockey, it is a whole body reaction to long winter months spent all too frequently indoors. 

First my feet began to feel restless as the desire to walk amongst trees, ferns, and foliage returned to my legs. Then my hands started to tremble as the longing to stick my fingers in the dirt crept back into my arms and hands. And finally, my brain commenced to scamper away to any and every wild place I could imagine as the hankering for adventure finally broke free of months of hibernation. Alas, as these feelings overtook my body not but a few weeks ago, the white of snow still covered nearly every crack and crevice in sight. Thus, as so frequently happens, I turned toward the shelves of the library to unearth just the right book to allay my current cravings. 

Like my current predicament, in 1997, Michael Ausema felt a certain tickle. Unlike many of his peers, he could not content himself with a good job in a place he knew and loved. Therefore, when the opportunity arose to spend a summer on Isle Royale as a volunteer park ranger, he leapt at the chance. That summer spent on Michigan's jewel, became a catalyst sending him on a lifelong journey in search of true wildness.  To accomplish this, Michael went on to become a paid park ranger working not just on Isle Royale, but also in the Everglades, and Glacier Bay National Parks. His book, "A Search for a Sense of Wildness" chronicles his many adventures in these remote places, the relationships he develops while doing so, and his attempt to commune with God through his interactions with these spectacular and wild locales.

At its heart, "A Search for a Sense of Wildness" reads like the incredibly optimistic journal of a true adventurer. It is chock full of amazing wildlife encounters, breathtakingly portrayed natural beauty, humorous and heartwarming people, awe inspiring exploits, and most importantly, open wonder. Ausema is truly a believer in the divine beauty of our world and it is impossible to put this book down without understanding why. And yet as the book draws on, Ausema's astonishment, does occasionally feel overly glass half full as almost every experience seems to instill complete and "utter awe" and to be seemingly mind blowing. This occasionally over the top admiration of the natural world though, can hardly be called a fault and may instead be more of a symptom of the narrative style that aims toward a retelling of amazing experiences rather than a tale with a binding narrative arc.

Despite this lack of rising action, climax, conclusion and so forth, Ausema's tale superbly achieves its goals of both scratching an itch for adventure while creating within readers the desire for beauty, the divine, and most importantly, their intersection in true wildness.