Refuge and Faithful Transgressions

I have been needing to catch up with a few words on some books that I read this summer. Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams and Faithful Transgression by Laura Bush are companion volumes somewhat. We read Refuge for Sept book group (but had a low turnout after the woman who suggested it made a disclaimer that she didn't know about the "seeds of apostacy" that she found in it. I vehemently disagree with this analysis of the book. Non-orthodox thoughts will not necessarily set someone on an incontrovertible path towards an apostate life.)

Bush analyzes 6 Mormon women's autobiographical writings who cross boundaries. She spends some time discussing her notion of trangression as boundary crossing, using Adam and Eve as example. I liked her introductory discussion and the notion that she develops of the contradiction, yet wholeness, that she finds in women who have crossed Mormon boundaries. I didn't finish all 6 of her biographical chapters. It was a bit academic, but still interesting. Anyway, one of the women that she discusses is Terry Tempest Williams, together with a memoir entitled Refuge.


I really loved Refuge and found the controversial issues to be a very overall small part of her book. In fact, I think that Bush makes too much of them in her analysis. There is no lengthy discussion of any one particular "boundary-crossing" issue--this book is about Williams' mother suffering and ultimately dying from ovarian cancer. And it is about Williams connection to the land of Utah. She has an amazing ability to sit and absorb nature. Her particular love is birds, and her book is full of descriptions of birds and their habitats and what happened to them as Great Salt Lake flooded in the 1980's.


It's been about a month since I read it and a couple of things still stand out to me.

I loved her use of the moon as a metaphor for our emotional energy. In a brief passage, she says, "As women, we hold the moon in our bellies. It is too much to ask to operate on full-moon energy three hundred and sixty-five days a year. I am in a crescent phase." I love the notion that our energy cycles like the moon and that behind a crescent or new moon phase, the full moon exists--it just may not be evident at the moment. I was certainly in a crescent phase this summer.

I also was astounded by her connection to a geographical place. I think it's due both to her predisposition to pay attention to and love nature and to the fact that she has lived in the same place her whole life. But, moving around a lot isn't a good excuse for me. After reading Refuge, I determined to find ways to become more connected to the area where I live. To research and give labels to the trees in my neighborhood. To spend time walking around lakes and on the numerous trails in the area. To take advantage of the many wonderful outdoor center activities. And to encourage my kids in the same way.

When we first came here to look for a house, all the commercial areas were so familiar. "Here's a complex with Target, Pier One, Old Navy, and Starbucks. Oh, and just up the road in this other suburban town is the exact same thing." These complexes look just like so many others across the country. The homogenization of America. My conception of place was centered more in commercial enterprise rather than landscape. And now that we have lived in Minnesota for more than a year, there are clearly many things that distinguish it from Pittsburgh, New York, and New Jersey. I love the amount of sun we get compared to Pittsburgh. I often am in awe at the vastness of the sky and the beautiful clouds scattered across it, especially at sunset. And of course, the sheer number of lakes and ponds. But, I regret that my first impression of this place that is now my home was based upon something much different.