She has had various job titles in her career, but writer Margaret Renkl says one consistent role in her life for decades has been that of “a window-gazer,” someone who watches what’s going on out there. Even better, she gets outdoors and really looks around, calling into play what she says are the greatest tools of a naturalist: silence and stillness. 

“Sit quietly and let the world come to you,” Renkl writes. Now she has a new book out to help us cultivate our attention of the natural world, and she’s here to talk about some of her tactics for doing just that. 

Like many readers, I got to know Margaret Renkl in 2019 upon the publication of her must-read book “Late Migrations.” Since 2017, she’s been contributing a popular weekly opinion column to “The New York Times,” and somehow in between writing all those newspaper columns, she’s also published several books, including “The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year” in 2023, and now a companion journal to it called “Leaf, Cloud Crow: A Weekly Backyard Journal” to help us slow down and really take in the natural world’s happenings all year long.

Margaret Renkl, whom I affectionately call Margaret R. of the South, is based in Nashville. and I’m glad she made the time to join us today from there.  

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