Joanna Brichetto is a certified Tennessee naturalist. She is also a blogger, a native plant evangelist, a defender of hackberry trees and much more. In her debut book This Is How a Robin Drinks: Essays on Urban Nature, Brichetto invites us to notice and celebrate the nature around us through 53 lyrical essays. The Scene recently spoke with her about her book, Nashville’s literary ecosystem and how she became a naturalist.
You call yourself a “late-blooming naturalist.” What made you take the leap to becoming a certified Tennessee naturalist?
I grew up near the Smokies. It was nature all day, every day. I heard about this certification program at Tremont in the Smokies, and for years, that was my big dream. Then I heard about the Tennessee Naturalist Program at Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary, and that’s when everything changed. I was in the second class and got my certification in 2012.
I feel like I’ve been a naturalist most of my life, but it didn’t really get serious until I was part of a community where everybody from all these different backgrounds were also interested in frog spawn, picking seeds out of scat and learning about butterfly host plants.
In the title essay, you mention that you’d learned overnight that we had set a new record for the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. You take your son to school and then sit outside crying as you watch a robin drink. Can you say more about that morning and that essay?
That was the Pulse nightclub shooting. It was that far back, and it was the usual reaction: stunned, numb. But I have to keep going with everyday life, even though this is continuing to happen all around me. The contrast between taking my little boy to school and then going to such lengths to provide food or water for these wild birds in my driveway, the contrast was heartbreaking.
How does having a chronic illness affect the way you interact with nature?
Oh my gosh, it’s massive. When I got certified as a naturalist, my big plan was to give back to my community and do the most important work, which to me was helping the field trips for school kids at Warner Park and Owl’s Hill. I realized I couldn’t sign up for stuff and know for sure I’d be able to follow through. I stayed at home and added habitat, which gave me more plants and animals to observe. Little by little, I realized this is nature too.
Part of my regimen to get better is taking as many walks as I can manage, no matter how shitty I feel. I usually walk the neighborhood before dawn and at dusk. I love those transitional times. There’s so much going on, like chimney swifts going to bed, and bats coming from bed, and different insects. It’s just heaven.
What are small things people can do to make a difference in their relationship to nature?
Take the same walk every day, a few days in a row. I’ve noticed that when you repeat the same walk, even if it’s just a walk to your mailbox, you’ll see something different every day. I want everybody to plant a native plant where they can see it all the time, especially if it’s a butterfly host plant. My first one was the Tennessee state wildflower, the purple passion flower. It volunteered in my yard, and now I grow it everywhere because it’s the caterpillar host plant for the gulf fritillary butterfly.
There’s a blurb on the cover of your book from author Margaret Renkl. How does it feel to have Margaret’s support?
I would say it’s a dream come true, but I didn’t even dream that big. Margaret was actually my editor for one of those essays, way back when she was the editor of Chapter 16. But we never met. I was having a crisis with the publisher and was advised to call her. She’s a friend of the literary ecosystem. I worked up my courage, and I called her. She was so helpful. That’s when she became aware that I was putting a book together and having trouble. Years later, she had me over to look at something in her yard and she asked why my book isn’t a book yet. I explained, and she just said, “OK, we’re gonna do this. We’re gonna have a launch at Parnassus, in conversation with me.” And that was amazing, just amazing. I didn’t know I was gonna have a launch. So it was completely overwhelming. I’m very, very grateful.
Who do you hope reads this book?
People who don’t normally read nature writing. I would love that. I would love to draw somebody in who has never heard of Annie Dillard. Someone who just wants to read something fun about Nashville, and then they are totally sucked in, and they’re going to run out and buy native plants so they can support our food web and keep the world from burning quite as fast.
More book events of note:
Saturday, Sept. 21: Words & Music, in partnership with Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra, at The Porch House, 2811 Dogwood Place.
Sunday, Sept. 22: Porch Writers Live at Babo, 1601A Riverside Drive.
Wednesday, Sept. 25: Andrea Jo DeWerd, author of What We Sacrifice for Magic, at The Bookshop, 1043 W. Eastland Ave.
Sunday, Sept. 29: Lauren Markham, author of A Map of Future Ruins: On Borders and Belonging, in conversation with Becca Andrews, at Novelette Booksellers, 1101 Chapel Ave.
Wednesday, Oct 2: Comedic Writing for Everyday Life with Cortney Warner at The Porch House.
Saturday, Oct 5: Horrigin Stories: the Horror Genre as Memoir with Lori Beerman at The Porch House.
Friday, Oct. 18: Louise Erdrich, author of The Mighty Red, in conversation with Ann Patchett at Montgomery Bell Academy’s Paschall Theater, 4001 Harding Pike.
Thursday, Oct. 24: Erik Larson, author of The Demon of Unrest, at Montgomery Bell Academy’s Paschall Theater.
Oct. 26-27: The Southern Festival of Books at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, the Tennessee State Museum and various locations. Visit sofestofbooks.org for details.
Tuesday, Oct. 29: Margaret Renkl, author of Leaf, Cloud, Crow at Parnassus Books, 3900 Hillsboro Pike.
Wednesday, Oct. 30: Barry Sonnenfeld, author of Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time, in conversation with Peter Kurland at the Nashville Public Library, 615 Church St.
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