The Observer: The Life and Writings of Bernt Olaf Wolden
"There are probably those who will say; 'All this is past. Why dwell so much on the scenes and the sounds of a long since vanished past? We are living in a different age. Live in the present.' But this is history. And some history is still being taught." - B.O. Wolden, 1962
Olaf Wolden was one of those rare people who knew his home place with an intimacy most of us can only aspire to, and he shared a bond with all the beings he lived among, a bond that is difficult to find in our modern age. A naturalist in every sense of the word, Olaf had a personal devotion to tracking bird migrations and flower bloomings, a scientific drive to catalogue mosses and lichens with exacting precision, and a desire to share his passion for the natural world with others.
From 1930-1968, he contributed a column titled Nature Notes to The Estherville Daily News where he shared musings and observations about the natural world. Olaf's story reaches back to the early 19th century, a time when northwest Iowa was a wilder place than the one we have today. This book tells the story of Olaf's childhood in Island Grove and his development as a naturalist and botanist. Readers will experience Olaf's love of nature in his own words through a curated selection of his Nature Notes and an accompanying biography written by Amie Adams.
