Hal Borland

Hal Borland's Book of Days

In Sundial of the Seasons, beloved New York Times nature writer Hal Borland (1900-1978) guides readers day-by-day through the seasonal changes of the natural world. With humility, wit, and wisdom he celebrates the everyday events of life in the country. This collection of his "outdoor editorials" will bring you daily joy and inspiration.

A Selection of Outdoor Editorials from The New York Times

Sundial of the Seasons

When the Legends Die

Growing up on the Colorado Frontier

High, Wide and Lonesome

A memoir of a childhood homesteading in frontier Colorado: “A book from the heart . . . the stuff of the American dream” (The New York Times). In this memoir of a lost America, Hal Borland tells the story of his family’s migration to eastern Colorado as homesteaders at the turn of the twentieth century. On an unsettled and unwelcoming prairie landscape, the Borlands build a house, plant crops, and eke out a meager existence. While life is difficult—and self-reliance is necessary with no neighbors for miles—the experience brings the family close and binds them closer to the terrible and beautiful natural patterns that govern their lives. Borland would grow up to study journalism and become an acclaimed nature writer, and it was these childhood years on the prairie that shaped the author’s heart and mind.

Growing Up on the Colorado Frontier

The national bestselling memoir of a friendship between a New England outdoorsman and the scrawny foxhound who came to his door one snowy day. In the midst of a blizzard, late one Christmas night in the 1950s, author Hal Borland heard a howl at the back door of his home on a hundred-acre farm in the Housatonic Valley of northwest Connecticut. Resistant at first, he called around trying to find an owner whose dog had gone missing—with no luck. Finally, with the encouragement of his wife and haunted by memories of his childhood collie, Borland brought some scraps of leftover steak outside. This was his introduction to Pat, a miserable, half-starved, but deeply trusting black-and-white foxhound mutt. Pat would soon become a member of the family, accompanying Borland on hunts and terrorizing the local woodchuck population—and teaching him that sometimes our most immediate connection to the natural world is through the animals we live with. A longtime journalist and a winner of the John Burroughs Medal for distinguished nature writing, Borland tells the tale of the time he shared with Pat in this touching true story that “will appeal to many sportsmen and to all people who have ever been closely attached to a dog” (The New York Times Book Review).

A Memoir

The Dog Who Came to Stay

A collection of eighty-seven natural history essays focuses on the trees and commonly found shrubs of the North American woodland, accompanied by full-color photographs

A Countryman's Woods

Text and paintings provide panoramic and miniature views of the natural world month-by-month.

A Book of Months

The Golden Circle

Seasons

A distinguished naturalist and an outstanding nature photographer present a collection of eighty-five wild flowers native to the Berkshires, each of which is described in an essay accompanied by a full-color photograph

A Countryman's Flowers

A memoir of a year immersed in nature on a New England farm, by the national bestselling author of The Dog Who Came to Stay. After a nearly fatal bout of appendicitis, Hal Borland decided to leave the city behind and move with his wife to a farmhouse in rural Connecticut. Their new home on one hundred acres inspired Borland to return to nature. In this masterpiece of American nature writing, he describes such wonders as the peace of a sky full of stars, the breathless beauty of blossoming plants, the way rain swishes as it hits a river, and the invigorating renewal brought by the changing seasons. The delights of nature as Borland observes them seem boundless, and his sense of awe is contagious.

This Hill, This Valley

How to Write and Sell Non-fiction

Living in a world circumscribed by up-to-the-minute news and electronic tools we barely master before they are out-of-date, we attempt to shield ourselves from environmental events which threaten to overturn our constructed reality. Naturally, in such fast-paced and topsy-turvy surroundings we watch the sky and earth for signs of regularity; looking to the changing seasons for hope and rejuvenation, and seeking out the voices of those who speak of constancy in the changes of the natural world. Hal Borland was such a voice. Every week, beginning in 1941, in the editorial pages of The New York Times he would speak of living on the land—this natural world we all try to understand. In this collection of 365 of his essays, arranged daily within the twelve months, he writes with a familiarity of the ways of the country that is at once humble and resiliently knowledgeable. In Sundial of the Seasons you will find page-long ruminations on such topics as “Fog” (“a unique blend of mood and weather“), “The Bumblebee” (“Bumblebees tolerate man, up to a point”), “Dandelions” (“Neither flood nor drouth seems to discourage it”), and “Fishing” (“The fish caught are only a lesser part of the catch”), all in celebration of the everyday events of life in the country. Begin each day with the gentle wit and wisdom of the person who, for nearly four decades, wrote his “outdoor editorials” in an engaging and inimitable fashion eagerly read by thousands.

A young Native American raised in the forest is suddenly thrust into the modern world, in this novel by the author of The Dog Who Came to Stay. Thomas Black Bull’s parents forsook the life of a modern reservation and took to ancient paths in the woods, teaching their young son the stories and customs of his ancestors. But Tom’s life changes forever when he loses his father in a tragic accident and his mother dies shortly afterward. When Tom is discovered alone in the forest with only a bear cub as a companion, life becomes difficult. Soon, well-meaning teachers endeavor to reform him, a rodeo attempts to turn him into an act, and nearly everyone he meets tries to take control of his life. Powerful and timeless, When the Legends Die is a captivating story of one boy learning to live in harmony with both civilization and wilderness.

The Timeless Coming-of-Age Story about a Native American Boy Caught Between Two Worlds

The inspiring classic on the virtues of embracing the great outdoors from the national bestselling author of The Dog Who Came to Stay. Over the course of his career, Hal Borland wrote eight nature books and hundreds of “outdoor editorials” for the Sunday New York Times, extolling the virtues of the countryside. From his home on one hundred acres in rural Connecticut, Borland wrote of the natural wonders, both big and small, that surrounded him every day. Beyond Your Doorstep is his guide to venturing into the outdoors around your home, wherever it is, and discovering the countryside within reach. The beauty to be found in roadsides, meadows, woodlands, and bogs are explored in elegant prose. Borland takes up birds, animals, and plants—both edible and poisonous—and the miraculous ways in which they are threaded together throughout the natural world. Part introductory field guide and part incitement to exploration, Beyond Your Doorstep is a classic of nature writing and a must-read for anyone looking to renew his or her relationship to the outdoors.

A Handbook to the Country

Beyond Your Doorstep

Twelve Moons of the Year contains a selection of beloved nature writer Hal Borland's best short natural history essays, originally published as editorials in The New York Times. Organized like an almanac, it follows the changing seasons of the Native American lunar calendar, with each dated entry representing one day of the year.

His Own Selections from His Nature Editorials in the New York Times

Hal Borland's Twelve Moons of the Year

“Some dogs, like some people, just can’t abide a quiet life,” writes the author of the national bestseller, The Dog Who Came to Stay, in this warm and touching memoir. Penny the basset shows up at the Borlands’ Connecticut farmhouse on a cold, snowy day—head held high, tail wagging, as if she were a long-awaited guest. Hal and Barbara Borland were no strangers to strays. Pat, the rabbit hound thousands of readers came to know in The Dog Who Came to Stay, had also appeared one winter, staying to become the family’s dear companion. Now, Pat is gone, and Hal and Barbara are bereft without canine company. They fall in love with Penny—and she seems to fit right in. Penny is a delightful dog—short-legged, flop-eared, full of fun and curiosity. And she loves people, so much so that she leaves the Borlands to go visiting elsewhere, often settling in with a different family for days on end. Indeed, Hal and Barbara admire her for her spirit of individuality and independence. Though she never truly belonged to them, the Borlands agreed that Penny was a dog well worth loving—and so will readers.

Hal Borland

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