‘Ranger Heart: A Naturalist Learns to Love After Loss' explores what it takes for a park ranger to get grounded again after profound grief, in a profession that encourages rootlessness. One of the youngest of twelve siblings, I grew up in a cramped, chaotic household. After my father died when I was six, I craved wide-open spaces and the healing embrace of nature. While I was determined to follow a career path that would lead me into the heart of the wilderness, it would take me years to understand that to heal from great loss, my own heart would
need to become as wide open as the natural world in which I sought refuge.

Ranger Heart is a collection of personal essays that consider five different themes: Advice for Women with Grit, Constraints, Love and Loss, Art and Beauty, and Connection and Community.