Pond Meadow Moon

In this trio of essays, E. J. Myers conjures and explores three aspects—places, dimensions, realms—of the property that he and his wife own in central Vermont.

“Sound of Water” describes the author’s concern about a pond located at the low end of the meadow. This small lake is clearly changing. But changing in what way? And for good or ill? Eutrophication is the process that will gradually convert this pond from an aquatic into a terrestrial ecosystem. Is this transition a problem . . . or just a normal, natural process?

By contrast, “The Cheerful Reaper” portrays how Myers and his wife, Edith, groom their meadow with scythes: tools they have neither owned before nor even considered owning until moving to Vermont. Though laden with dire symbolism—most alarmingly, the ancient icon of the Grim Reaper—the scythe reveals itself to be far less scary than Edith and the author had surmised. Now the couple put this implement to positive, sometimes exhilarating uses on their small meadow.

In the final essay, “Lunar Gravity,” Myers considers an object that isn’t part of Vermont, or even of Earth, but that looms large anyway. The moon is a three-dimensional Rorschach blot, as Myers puts it—and, to paraphrase Edward Abbey, it’s a reminder that “if we just pay attention, we will see that Earth is the only heaven we will ever need.”

Each of these nuanced essays attempts to understand aspects of the natural environment, ordinary places that offer extraordinary opportunities for insight.