finished reading

I need to figure out where to start--this book is thought-provoking, meditative, and lyrical.  Written by a botanist who's a poet, I want to start it again to truly savor the storytelling.  I learned more than I expected about the natural world, plants, science, the history of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and my relationship with the natural world.  The thread through all the stories is fostering a reciprocal relationship with the natural world.  Honoring life around us by owning and possessing less.  Gratitude, sharing, and giving thanks are all natural and practical practices. The author is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and ancestral experiences are woven through the stories.  It's a personal recounting of racism and Indigenous traditions.  I am inspired to learn more, especially about the local Mi'kmaq nation.

From the publisher:

Called the work of "a mesmerizing storyteller with deep compassion and memorable prose" ("Publishers Weekly") and the book that, "anyone interested in natural history, botany, protecting nature, or Native American culture will love," by "Library Journal," "Braiding Sweetgrass" is poised to be a classic of nature writing. As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer asks questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces indigenous teachings that consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take "us on a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise" (Elizabeth Gilbert). Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices.