Nick Offerman’s new book is an appreciation of the outdoors. It includes sections on hiking in Glacier National Park in Montana.

Georges saunders

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Nick Offerman’s new book is an appreciation of the outdoors. It includes sections on hiking in Glacier National Park in Montana.

Georges saunders

Nick Offerman is better known as Ron Swanson on Parks and recreation, and is perhaps the most famous actor who also owns a carpentry workshop. He is also an actor, musician and author.

And in his new book, he makes it known that “the outdoorsman” is also on his hobby list.

Although he lives in Los Angeles, “I feel a lot better after walking in the woods,” he told NPR’s Scott Simon on Weekend edition.

Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: Pastoral Observations of an Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outdoors is a reflection on some of Offerman’s outdoor experiences over the past few years. They include a hike through Glacier National Park in Montana with musician Jeff Tweedy and writer George Saunders, a trip to visit sheep farmer and author James Rebanks in the North West of England, and a road trip with Offerman’s wife Megan Mullally and their dog Clover through several states. .

Offerman met NPR in the great wilderness of Central Park in New York City, in the shade of what he observed to be a “charming and healthy Japanese maple” to talk about his love of nature.

Interview highlights

On the origins of his fondness for the outdoors

I grew up in a small town, and it was kind of my hobby: biking to the cove, going fishing with my family, and building a treehouse. And I guess I never lost the habit. I have to go out and stare at the creek or look at some trees so as not to be affected by LA traffic or staring too much at my iPhone.

NPR’s Nick Offerman and Scott Simon visit Central Park in New York City. “I feel a lot better after walking in the woods,” says Offerman.

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NPR’s Nick Offerman and Scott Simon visit Central Park in New York City. “I feel a lot better after walking in the woods,” says Offerman.

D. Parvaz / NPR

On what he finds outside

What I usually find is comfort. I am not a botanist or an ornithologist, but I really appreciate all the flora and fauna. But I would say it’s more of a mindset I’m looking for. I can walk a trail almost anywhere, in any climate and say, “What a delightful walk this is. And there I just killed three hours where I didn’t spend any money or have to shoot anything.

On what he sees in an individual tree

I do not know. For me, that’s part of my, I guess my therapy and my creative process is that I don’t usually focus on things. me more [often] wander. There’s a passage in the book about this where George Saunders, Jeff Tweedy and I… took the lead and what we’re talking about is the very comfort that you’re talking about.

When we step into nature, is it the chaos of nature that gives us respite from the straight lines of human construction? Or is it nature that has the calming patterns of building? Is it its organic architecture that is really medicinal to act as a balm for the chaos of human construction? Anyway, I just know that I feel a lot better after walking in the woods.

Jeff Tweedy, Nick Offerman and George Saunders at Glacier National Park.

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Jeff Tweedy, Nick Offerman and George Saunders at Glacier National Park.

Jon maret

On the relationship between diversity in nature and human diversity

As humans, we will always be fallible. It’s still my openness. And with that in mind, looking at the history of our country, it’s so easy to see the amazing things we’ve accomplished. And it’s also so easy to see the mistakes we’ve made. And so that’s my hope, it’s to open our minds to that fallibility that then allows us to take ownership of those behaviors and say, “OK, so we did this wrong. We did it wrong. How can we do it better? ”

Because we will never finish making our civilization evolve. Our beautiful American experience which, apparently on paper, is designed to bring an equal amount of happiness and justice to every citizen still has a long way to go. So to get there, which I think is absolutely what our goal should be, we have to keep our eyes, ears and hearts open to this diversity of nature.

How to discover nature while living in the city

Many of our municipalities are doing an excellent job in terms of green spaces. Part of what I try to encourage in my readership is to find where you can be delighted. If you are in a city or a suburb, if you have a hard time finding a park or a public green space, the wonderful thing about nature is that it literally works everywhere.

And so if you have a windowsill, you can grow any number of plants. You can grow herbs, tomatoes or garlic. I encourage people – something really fun is planting different deciduous or coniferous trees. I’m a deciduous man myself, but you can plant trees on your windowsill and grow them until they’re big enough to take them somewhere and transplant them. …

I love cities and I love nature. I prefer not to be limited to one or the other. Part of the reason we always have to stay open to our fallibility is because … Mother Nature has something else on her mind for the bundle of molecules that’s in here in these brown boots right now.

Danny Hensel and D. Parvaz produced and edited the audio interview. James Doubek produces for the web.