Dakota: A Spiritual Geography

I have often wondered what it is like to live in such an out of the way section of the United States so I decided to read this book. Kathleen Norris moved here because this is her ancestral home, but she does spend part of her year in beautiful Hawaii not that this part of South Dakota does not have its own particular beauty. Ms. Norris spent summers in this town, Lemmon, as a child while visiting grandparents. She writes about the landscape, the vast skies, the wide open spaces and how once this land belonged to the ocean. Now it is high plains country. The land is so open and treeless house lights can be seen for miles away.She writes of her religion, Protestant, Methodist and Presbyterian, to be exact. She fills in at her church while the Presybyterians are looking for a minister. She has gone back to Presbyterian, yet she is involved in Benedictine Abbeys where she loves to go and enjoy. She was close friends with Father Anthony and other elderly monks who are now deceased. She writes of Father Anthony, writings of hundreds of years ago by the Benedictines. She seems to not believe in any religion, yet believe in all. This book is about a spiritual journey plus more.South Dakota is dry, but fierce storms burst along the land. So many places are so far away from Lemmon, South Dakota, so close to the North Dakota border. Larger towns are hard to get to, too far. Lemmon is far from the Black Hills and Rapid City, an area that is a mecca for tourists especially in summer. The winters are long, hard, cold,very cold.The town seems lonely, yet not. People in this small town get to know each other more than they want or need to. Citizens who like to volunteer are given more than they need or want. Volunteer work is always needed. Ms. Norris feels her towns people are too static and do not welcome or appreciate change and chase away those who want to make improvements. Town people want everything to stay the same. What works stays. What was good enough form mama is good enough for me. There is so much gossiping, knowing much about each other., many people into others affairs. I always thought living in a far away place is for people who want to get away from humanity. It's true in a way, in a way not so.There are Indians in this area, very poor, people don't relate to Indians in these parts. Indians don't much relate to whites. Ms. Norris tries to get them to tolerate, know and like each other. and she introduces town people to culture. Kathleen and her husband work at part time jobs, teaching, library work, teaching creative writing to teen age girls, different small jobs, but getting to know people. She is trying to get her fellow small town citizens to get to know the world and not be so insular, whether they want to or not. She gives readers geography directions across the land where the countryside leaves the east and becomes west, tiny towns with small populations growing smaller and smaller. Young people need excitement, family men and women need jobs. This is high plains country, empty open land, sunflowers, sage, treeless, old country churches. Old deserted dwellings falling apart. Ms Norris is impressed with Hope Presbyterian Church, tiny congregation, members with degrees, members interested in world events. Ms Norris finds a "Benedictine Abbey and a tiny Presbyterian Church in the middle of nowhere absolutely and perfectly complementary."Some South Dakota natives, such as Kathleen Norris who was not born in South Dakota, have degrees, have lived in several places, then decide to return to western South Dakota. Then there are abbeys which Kathleen enjoys. Abbeys entertaining angels unaware. Kathleen has so much fun at the abbeys. These religious buildings with religious fill her with joy, the monks and nuns are filled with fun, love entertaining. I would never believe these places could possibly be.Kathleen Norris' search for self, search for God, her personal walk through life which she has written to share with readers. A great read. I have learned much, enjoyed much.so read

“Nature, in Dakota, can indeed be an experience of the holy.”I ran across a review of Dakota on Goodreads, and couldn’t believe I had not heard of this book before. As a native North Dakotan and someone who is on a faith journey herself, Dakota seemed to be a must read for me.The author, Kathleen Norris, has had an interesting journey in her own right. She was born in Washington DC, but spent summers in South Dakota with her grandparents. Eventually, she found her calling as a writer (poetry, to be exact) and furthered her career in New York City. Like many of us who left small towns and suburbia for urban centers, Ms. Norris felt that she had outgrown the religion she grew up with. And yet, she still had a spiritual longing. In Dakota, through a series of essays and poems, the reader is able to journey with Kathleen Norris as she navigates her spiritual inheritance and finally makes peace with it. “Ironically, it is in choosing the stability of the monastery or the Plains, places where nothing ever happens, places the world calls dull, that we discover that we can change. In choosing a bare-bones existence, we are enriched, and can redefine success as an internal process rather than an outward display of wealth and power.”This is such a beautiful book. Norris’ writing is breathtaking and in Dakota, she bares her soul in an effort of devotion and instruction. I will have to read this again and again.

Having read several books by this author, I finally decided to purchase "Dakota, A Spiritual Geography" written in 1993. I bought the paperback version (2001) used. After enjoying reading about her life on the high plains, in Lemmon. S.D., I googled Lemmon, S.D. to see what this town looks like today. This website brings the story together - the town did not disintegrate - it is modern and worth a visit. How nice to see how her town evolved in the past eighteen years.The author is right - one usually drives thru the Dakotas fast after stopping at the few tourist attractions, tho many people admire the Badlands (I thought it was spooky!) I enjoyed her "weather reports" and wonder how anyone can live in this part of the country. Seeing the flooding of little towns along the rivers in the Dakotas is heart rending.Kathleen Norris blends her spiritual journey with her uncanny ability to write from the heart, teaching the reader how to "think". I did quite a bit of underlining (I, too, live in a small town). Here is a paragraph from page 51..."The sad truth is that the harder we resist change, and the more we resent anyone who demands change of us, the more we short-change ourselves. Who could be more impoverished than the man who, on hearing news of a former teacher, exclaimed in a tavern, "That old cow? She used to make me read. Said I couldn't graduate till I read all she wanted. Well, I showed her, I haven't read a book since."Obviously, from the web site of Lemmon, S.D. there have been many changes. Perhaps Kathleen Norris assisted. In her book she attempted to make education, the arts, and finding peace thru contemplation a priority. Perhaps she will write another book about the modern Lemmon of today.

I already ownned Kathleen Norris' ACEDIA AND ME, a book I cherish.DAKOTA, written fifteen years earlier, did not disappoint, but drew me into a physical and spiritual landscape of great beauty, described in lyrical prose. Her honed skills of perceptions shine in the twelve brief monthly "Weather Reports", besides selected historical and social data needed for the understanding of its people and nature.I read it with great pleasure and recommend it warmly.Louise Harwood

Norris brings the joy of faith, and the struggles of being a person of faith in the present world into context. She is witty and well grounded in her understanding of life.