Nature gives abundantly
if you take a moment to look
I went to the movies this week.
I hoped “Where the Crawdads Sing,” from Delia Owens’ best seller of the same name, would hold true to her book. I feared the film version might distort or water down the novel's essence in the way many books fall victim to the whim of directors and marketing.
While writing a screenplay from a book poses multiple challenges, the story and characters remained true to Owens’ original novel and the main character, Kya. I don’t read much fiction, but the book and movie grabbed my attention, held me into the story, and never let go from beginning to end.
The film writers left out chunks of Kya’s childhood that explained her fascination with the marsh she called home. Two hours doesn’t allow you to include everything.
However, the story still captured how Kya’s keen sense of observation and art expressed the beauty surrounding her as she sought refuge from the abuse, isolation, and abandonment that enveloped her life.
Delia Owens, like any exceptional writer, pulled me into Kya’s heart, and I discovered pieces of myself in the story. That’s just what makes the best books worth reading.
As the book and movie ended, a flood of memories rushed in without warning. Like Kya, I’m fascinated and comforted by the natural world.
I’ve always been an outdoors girl. Not the camping, roughing it in the wilderness type, but more of a sit in the backyard, walk in the fields or woods looking-for-wonder nature lover.
As a child, I would sit on the sidewalk, breaking off leaves from the Hens and Chickens succulent planting them in the dirt. When I returned in a few days, I would marvel at how new plants appeared at the end of the pieces.
Sometimes, I wrote or made child-like drawings of what I saw. Both then and now, the outside gives me a safe place to figure out my thoughts and take refuge from fears and concerns that tend to overtake small girls and grown women.
If you haven’t read Where the Crawdads Sing, try it. You might like it. I do recommend the movie but read the book first—always my best advice.
BTW…where did the title come from? Owens loved the outdoors, and her mother would encourage the young Delia to “Go way out yonder where the crawdads sing.”
I have a soft spot for trees, giant, old trees inviting you into their branches.
Poet, Naima Penniman, recites “Being Human,” a celebration of the “wonders of the natural world and humanity’s connection to it.”
Taylor Swift’s low, mystical voice, beautiful melody, and lyrics close “Where the Crawdads Sing” with Carolina.
“Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better.”
—Albert Einstein
"I wasn't aware that words could hold so much. I didn't know a sentence could be so full."
—Kya in Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
Find a little wonder this week, take a walk in nature, or peek out the window if it’s too hot.
With gratitude,
Kathryn
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‘I discovered pieces of myself in the story.’
Thank you Kathryn for phrases that have deeper meaning than words.
This response is the emotion I focus for readers to take the time to see the flow; photography and story.