Essayist and opinion writer Margaret Renkl wants you to slow down and notice the natural world in your backyard and neighborhood park. Renkl lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and casts a keen essayist’s gaze on the impact of urban and suburban development on plants and animals. “The Comfort of Crows” is made up of 52 short chapters, which can be read over the course of a year as a literary devotional. Whether writing about the intelligence of crows or the determined energy of pollinators, Renkl calls on all of us to open our eyes and understand our impact on the world around us.