Wild Prairie: A Photographer's Personal Journey

Beryl Hamilton is a freelance writer in Thunder Bay who specializes in
home gardening.

James Page is a photographer and writer who has published more than
1,400 photos and 75 magazine articles. He was principal photographer for
the precursor to this book, the award-winning Prairie: A Natural History
(2004). It was chance that took Page to Val Marie (which lies at the
edge of Grasslands National Park), Saskatchewan, one winter. This
beautifully produced account of the writer’s journey there consists of
textual descriptions and colour photographs that capture the vast
prairies as he experienced them.

The book covers the four seasons: “Summer: Season of Fire,”
“Autumn: Coming to Earth,” “Winter: A Question of Survival,” and
“Spring: Season of Renewal.” From the introduction on, the author
provides striking personal insights into the prairies. Most memorable
are his descriptions of the summer magic of sun on the grasses and sky,
the fire and rain and blinding flashes of prairie lightning, the
migrating sandhill cranes in autumn, the sound of elk bugling, the winds
in the grasses, the intense foraging and feeding of little creatures
readying for the winter, and the windswept frozen land in winter.

At one point Page writes, “To travel through the prairie in winter,
one must learn different rules, different from those that apply
elsewhere and measure success by the ability to make critical choices
that ensure survival.” One gains a vivid sense here of the rhythm of
the prairie seasons. Near the book’s conclusion, one can almost hear
springtime bringing renewal, winds, birds, migration, and familiar
sounds of new and old life to the region. “If this book has an overall
message,” Page convincingly asserts, “[it is that] the wild prairie
matters.”