A Blizzard Under Blue Sky

From her brief introduction found in Literature and the Environment, Pam Houston seems to be an extremely talented writer. Her credentials are extensive (a Ph.D in creative writing from University of Utah and a best selling book) and her subject of interest is unique (love, gender, and the outdoors). It comes as no surprise then that "A Blizzard Under Blue Sky" a truly compelling short story despite the fact that it only spans four pages (that's my kind of short story, hahaha). The reason that Houston is able to draw readers in is because she opens by introducing the underlying topic of the piece, then puts this topic on the back burner to make room for a fascinating narrative, and in the end ties this the theme and the tale together without making the connection seem forced. Based on her writing structure, the three key points of "A Blizzard Under Blue Sky" seem to be identifying/treating depression, persevering through a near death experience, and then realizing how the two are intertwined.

Houston opens her story by detailing what has got her down in life: there are bills to pay, work to be done, and men uncommitted men. The combination of this, and maybe even the haze of winter, made it so that "the machine that drives [her] is broken". According to the story, the doctor suggested medication to get her functioning correctly again, but Houston was adamant that she would never fix her depression with pills. She came up with an alternate solution: winter camping.

From here, Houston drops basically all discussion about her depression. As a result, the reader almost forgets why she was going camping in the first place. Instead of dwelling, she immerses herself in nature hoping to get the same results a prescription would have achieved artificially. One quote in particular perfectly describes her healing journey through nature: "When everything in your life is uncertain, there's nothing quite like the clarity and precision of fresh snow and blue sky." Although her initial accounts of winter camping seem jovial and fun (she even mentions that the clarity and sereneness feel like a forth dimension) Houston's experience quickly takes a turn for the worst. The sun creeping behind the mountains amplifies her lack of experience, her lack of supplies, and the overall lack of warmth. Accordingly, she is faced with a 14 hour sleepless night where her only concern is survival (for both her and the dogs). When the sun came up on Houston's snow cave the next day, she describes a feeling of pure joy and relief based on the fact that she is alive: "for the first time in many months I was happy to see a day beginning." She forgot about the bills, about the man, and about the depression. Life and happiness became synonymous.

The final key point of "A Blizzard Under Blue Sky" is the first two key points combined: experiencing nature is an excellent way to deal with depression because it allows one to have "remembered about joy." Houston asserts that nature forces you to step outside of your problems and embrace simplicity. Her story is a tangible (maybe a little extreme) example of this, but it undoubtedly encourages readers to use the natural world as a resource to facilitate "hopefullness".

I thought "A Blizzard Under Blue Sky" was a wonderful story and achieved exactly what it intended to. It provoked happiness, maybe even amazement, based on the fact that upon setting out Houston was initially skeptical about the healing power of the natural world, and in turn found how revolutionary an extreme experience can be. Whats most interesting is that Houston immediately turned down anti-depression medication. Most people would be thrilled at the prospect of a pill filling the void in their lives. Pam Houston had a contrary view: "one of the things I love the most about the natural world is the way it gives you waht's good for you even if you don't know it at the time." The important thing to note here is that she did not know how nature would heal her, but she had an unwaivering faith that it would even in extremely harsh conditions. Prior to reading "A Blizzard Under Blue Sky" my experiences with nature have not been all that rewarding; I have never had a life changing experience as a direct result of the natural world. Houston helped me to identify why I had never stumbled upon such an organic change before. While she experienced joy by letting go everything but the prospect of life, I have always gone into the environment with expectations and goals. I intend to change this.

In terms of the big picture, "A Blizzard Under Blue Sky" ties in directly with all of the other Literature and the Environment readings. This fact makes sense based on the fact that they were all specifically selected to be a part of this a book with the term "Environment" in its title. For example, Houston's work ties in directly with Thoreau's experiences highlighted in "Solitude". Both of these individuals found pure bliss through total immersion in nature; the only difference is that Thoreau's was non-life threatening and by choice while Houston's was definitely life threatening and was essentially forced upon her. What we can gather from "A Blizzard Under Blue Sky," and all of the readings from Literature and the Environment, is that nature is a powerful tool for contemplation, introspection, and healing. It is no coincidence that nature retreats are popular and powerful experience. One can undoubtedly experience God and do some meaningful soul searching while experiencing his creation first hand.

I think that this piece of literature is getting at a very important point: emotional fluctuations are inevitable but they do not have to be debilitating. In her story Pam Houston is going through a very difficult time, and her problems are very universal: love, work, and money. The natural journey that she consequently details proves that sorrow is curable (and that there is no need for medication). In terms of my life, I intend to take the lessons taught by Houston and apply them to my life. With that being said, I do not have the time to go winter camping on a regular basis, nor do I have the desire to, but I will seize any opportunity I can to expand my natural boundaries. This might include exploring a national park on a weekend instead of going to the movies, or it might mean vacationing to the wilderness of Utah instead of defaulting back to the same beaches I have always gone to. Whatever my wilderness immersion ends up being, rest assured that I will go out of my way to take seize it. Maybe I will experience a life or death situation and come out of it with a newfound conception of joy, but even if I do not, I will soak up whatever nature has to offer me.

Questions:

Houston mentions that nature "gives you what's good for you even if you don't know it at the time". The experience she details is pretty extreme. Has she had other natural experiences that were similarly rewarding and yet less dangerous?

I've got to know, what does "love junkie" mean?

For someone who does not have Utah at their finger tips, whats the best way to seek out nature that is of similar scope or has similar significance? AKA how do you find compelling nature in South Bend?