Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams

I thought this excerpt was very interesting. First, the author describes the Great Salt Lake. She talks about how the depth of the lake fluctuates based on the type of climate that area is experiencing.  The lake has varied as much as twenty feet in the last one hundred years. This in turn effects the land surrounding the lake and many of the ecosystems established in that area. This is where the author becomes emotionally involved. If the lake reaches a certain height it will flood out the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. She and her Grandma spent many years watching the burrowing owls. On her annual visit to watch the birds she finds that they have been kicked out by several men who really could care less. We can tell she is upset simply by how she reacts. She even comes back the next day hoping she would find the burrowing owls just the way she left them the previous year. She then goes on to describe the way she was raised in believing that all life forms had a spirit life before and after life on earth. Her family loved the land and the joy that it brought them. She then goes on to describe her first encounter with bird watching with her Grandmother. This experience gave her a deep appreciation for birds, specifically the owl, that stayed with her for her lifetime.