After reading the first few
chapters of A Sand County Almanac, I have several initial impressions of the
novel and of Aldo Leopold. This novel is full of intriguing quotes inspired by
nature (a quick google search proves that others feel as I do; there are many
different products for sale such as coffee mugs and mouse pads that still carry
Aldo’s words today). Aldo writes using amazing imagery and I find that I
can picture perfectly the scenes he describes. However, the scientist in me
intuitively picks apart his writing and can’t look past the extremely
anthropomorphic way that he describes animals and plants. I guess that I have
been reading too many papers in scientific journals and the writing style of novels now seems foreign to me.
Putting the scientist aside, I like
to imagine the type of person Aldo Leopold was as I read his descriptions. I
get the sense that Aldo longs to be the plants and animals he describes. He
talks about the old oak tree he chops for firewood and recalls different
conservation events that correlate with the year of the growth rings. I feel
as though he would rather be this old tree that stood strong and unaffected by
modern times and materialism. There are several instances where Aldo makes a
distinct separation between those who value the natural world around them and
those who take its beauty for granted. For example he talks about...”those who
turn their eyes cityward” and describes those that are oblivious to the flora
around them. More specifically he states that...”they live on the land but not
by the land”. I admire Aldo for his unique and refreshing view on societal
values, glorifying the value of nature while others strive for expansion and
wealth. 
Thus far, one of the major themes in this
novel is that nature is intrinsically valuable. Aldo is a man who is greatly
connected to the natural world and seems to relate more to animals and plants than
humans. As he describes the lone goose migrating over his farm, he seems to
genuinely empathize with the goose that lost his family during the hunt. Also, I
found it amusing when he describes the flooding of his farm with awe, actually
enjoying the carp that swim by. I predict that his neighbors probably felt that
the flood was a terrible nuisance. Aldo pays equal attention to species in both
the animal and plant world. As a mycologist, I find myself anticipating a
description of a morel or the mycorrhizal fungi that give life to so many
plants. I will be pleased if Aldo describes just one mushroom in the entire
book, but the beauty of fungi is commonly overlooked. 