Review of Peri Phillips McQuay\u27s Singing Meadow: The Adventure of Creating a Country Home

Cutler, Randy Lee

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

The GooseVolume 16 | No. 1 Article 178-6-2017Singing Meadow: The Adventure of Creating aCountry Home by Peri Phillips McQuayRandy Lee CutlerEmily Carr University of Art + DesignPart of the Literature in English, North America Commons, Nature and Society RelationsCommons, and the Place and Environment CommonsFollow this and additional works at / Suivez-nous ainsi que d’autres travaux et œuvres:https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegooseThis article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Goose by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Cet article vous est accessible gratuitement et en libre accès grâce à Scholars Commons @ Laurier. Le texte a été approuvé pour faire partie intégrantede la revue The Goose par un rédacteur autorisé de Scholars Commons @ Laurier. Pour de plus amples informations, contactezscholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended Citation / Citation recommandéeCutler, Randy L.. "Singing Meadow: The Adventure of Creating a Country Home by Peri Phillips McQuay." The Goose, vol. 16 , no. 1 ,article 17, 2017,https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/vol16/iss1/17.  Singing Meadow: The Adventure of Creating a Country Home by PERI PHILLIPS MCQUAY Wintergreen Studios Press, 2015 $20.00  Reviewed by RANDY LEE CUTLER  Categorized under autobiography/personal memoirs, Singing Meadow: The Adventure of Creating a Country Home is the first-person account of how author Peri Phillips McQuay and her husband conceive and realize a rural home. After living within Foley Mountain, an 800-acre Eastern Ontario conservation area, McQuay’s husband Barry, a nature conservationist educator, makes the move toward retirement. With this life-changing event comes the decision at the age of sixty to finally own their own home. As a result, their devoted relationship deepens further, entering a new phase in how they relate to each other. Through this shared process they hone their negotiating and relational skills as a couple and relearn to communicate with each other, as well as with others. The book covers the challenges of finding the perfect spot, ideally with a small house.  After a year-long search they meet with little success due to their limited budget and expectations to be surrounded by nature.  Frustrated and dispirited, they eventually discover a property that immediately resonates with their desire for a diverse and unspoiled landscape albeit with no building on site; meanwhile they had vowed to each other that they wouldn't enter into any sort of building project. At this point, the memoir turns toward the challenging work of the long negotiation process of securing the property and of course working with a contractor and trades people to build a home from the well and foundation up. As the next year unfolds, the couple refine their concept of their dream home in the woods after many visits to the property, studying the shifting seasonal light, learning about its natural features and the ever-changing wildlife. McQuay’s knowledge of the flora and fauna is impressive, whether her discovery of the different trees now in her environs, the distinctive flowers blooming at different times of the year, or the numerous birds that will share this land with her. Just this inventory of feathered creatures is notable: eagle, heron, oriole, red crest, loon, white breasted nuthatch, robin, blue jay, song sparrow, blackbird, rose breasted grosbeak, kingfisher, red wing, wood thrush, oven bird, wood pecker, snipe, bobolink, yellow warbler, red tail, turkey vulture, short eared owl, great grey owl and wild geese.  Environmental literature plays a significant role in how the author conceives her new home. McQuay references Helen Hoover’s A Place in the Woods as an inspiration for her and her husband to leave their secure jobs for the more uncertain life of living on Foley Mountain. Indeed, Singing Meadow’s bibliography is an excellent reading list covering such topics as living a simpler, rural life, nature journaling, and sketching, to more philosophical tomes. A Pattern Language by influential architect and theorist, Christopher Alexander, is drawn upon for the more subtle design elements, from the fluid and slow process of adjusting the original design to accommodate the concept of ‘architectural compression,’ whereby many aspects are successfully combined in one space, to the importance of windows whether as a response to the width of peripheral vision or to bring the outside in. The French philosopher, Gaston Bachelard, also makes an appearance, reminding the author that a suitable house allows one to dream in peace. Much of the writing concerns project managing the site while simultaneously 1Cutler: Singing Meadow by Peri Phillips McQuayPublished by / Publié par Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2017  taking notes for this book and discovering the botanical details of her newly acquired acreage. McQuay’s engagement with the land is impassioned, though further acknowledgement of its first human inhabitants would have shifted the focus from the practicalities of building up her property to the land’s larger historical significance. She does mention Lloyd Jones’ Living by the Chase: The Native People of Crow and Bobs Lake, who writes that First Nations people came to the lakes at the end of the last Ice Age:   In the Woodland Period, about 5,000 BC to 200 AD, there is evidence of clay pottery [...] In the time of recorded European history, Iroquois were followed by dominant Huron. By 1701, Ojibwa, known here in this area as Mississauga, occupied Eastern Ontario. (88)  Later, some Algonquin and Nipissing people came in search of better hunting grounds. And during her time living in the area, McQuay had conversations with long-time inhabitants who revealed their own aboriginal ancestry, which they generally kept secret:  How deeply tragic it was that not only were our earliest people frequently taken advantage of and relocated by Europeans, but, worse, that those who remained were made to feel such shame and fear that to this day they preferred to keep that proud ancestry hidden. (89)  While clearly not her primary focus, the importance of the theft of land and colonial violence nonetheless remains. This context and background might have broadened the narrative beyond the nuts and bolts of building a home and developing a relationship with the terrain to taking up the complicated realities of owning land with such complex histories. Despite a focus on the particularities of building her new home, McQuay defers often to the outdoors, stating that the habitus of living close to nature is the most important part and that her constant joy is the land: “For Bob and for me, as it was for Thoreau, our real life was outside” (180). The process of creating a country home awakened childhood memories of being connected to nature, nourished by the silence as well as the sounds―as referenced in the book’s title―whether of animals, the seasonal winds, or the almost audible curves and vistas of the local geography. At one point, McQuay writes about a study that claims how plants thrive when they are actively loved and cared for: “Surely this extends to trees and rocks and animals and birds. Our caring notice brought them close to us and, in turn, renewed us” (96). Singing Meadow is a memoir about relationships, to people and to the land with its abundance of plant and wildlife, all of which engender a different kind of connection with the world.  RANDY LEE CUTLER is a writer, artist and educator. In the intersections of gender, art, science, and technology, her practice takes up themes of materiality and sustenance through performance, video, print media as well as creative and critical writing. Randy is an associate professor at Emily Carr University in the Faculty of Art on the unceded Coast Salish territories also known as Vancouver, Canada.  2The Goose, Vol. 16, No. 1 [2017], Art. 17https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/vol16/iss1/17

Singing Meadow: The Adventure of Creating a Country Home by Peri Phillips McQuay

Scholars Commons

The Goose
Volume 16 | No. 1 Article 17
8-6-2017
Singing Meadow: The Adventure of Creating a
Country Home by Peri Phillips McQuay
Randy Lee Cutler
Emily Carr University of Art + Design
Part of the Literature in English, North America Commons, Nature and Society Relations
Commons, and the Place and Environment Commons
Follow this and additional works at / Suivez-nous ainsi que d’autres travaux et œuvres:
https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose
This article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Goose by an
authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.
Cet article vous est accessible gratuitement et en libre accès grâce à Scholars Commons @ Laurier. Le texte a été approuvé pour faire partie intégrante
de la revue The Goose par un rédacteur autorisé de Scholars Commons @ Laurier. Pour de plus amples informations, contactez
scholarscommons@wlu.ca.
Recommended Citation / Citation recommandée
Cutler, Randy L.. "Singing Meadow: The Adventure of Creating a Country Home by Peri Phillips McQuay." The Goose, vol. 16 , no. 1 ,
article 17, 2017,
https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/vol16/iss1/17.
  
Singing Meadow: The Adventure of Creating 
a Country Home by PERI PHILLIPS MCQUAY 
Wintergreen Studios Press, 2015 $20.00 
 
Reviewed by RANDY LEE CUTLER 
 
Categorized under autobiography/personal 
memoirs, Singing Meadow: The Adventure of 
Creating a Country Home is the first-person 
account of how author Peri Phillips McQuay 
and her husband conceive and realize a rural 
home. After living within Foley Mountain, an 
800-acre Eastern Ontario conservation area, 
McQuay’s husband Barry, a nature 
conservationist educator, makes the move 
toward retirement. With this life-changing 
event comes the decision at the age of sixty 
to finally own their own home. As a result, 
their devoted relationship deepens further, 
entering a new phase in how they relate to 
each other. Through this shared process they 
hone their negotiating and relational skills as 
a couple and relearn to communicate with 
each other, as well as with others. 
The book covers the challenges of 
finding the perfect spot, ideally with a small 
house.  After a year-long search they meet 
with little success due to their limited budget 
and expectations to be surrounded by 
nature.  Frustrated and dispirited, they 
eventually discover a property that 
immediately resonates with their desire for a 
diverse and unspoiled landscape albeit with 
no building on site; meanwhile they had 
vowed to each other that they wouldn't 
enter into any sort of building project. At this 
point, the memoir turns toward the 
challenging work of the long negotiation 
process of securing the property and of 
course working with a contractor and trades 
people to build a home from the well and 
foundation up. As the next year unfolds, the 
couple refine their concept of their dream 
home in the woods after many visits to the 
property, studying the shifting seasonal light, 
learning about its natural features and the 
ever-changing wildlife. McQuay’s knowledge 
of the flora and fauna is impressive, whether 
her discovery of the different trees now in 
her environs, the distinctive flowers 
blooming at different times of the year, or 
the numerous birds that will share this land 
with her. Just this inventory of feathered 
creatures is notable: eagle, heron, oriole, red 
crest, loon, white breasted nuthatch, robin, 
blue jay, song sparrow, blackbird, rose 
breasted grosbeak, kingfisher, red wing, 
wood thrush, oven bird, wood pecker, snipe, 
bobolink, yellow warbler, red tail, turkey 
vulture, short eared owl, great grey owl and 
wild geese.  
Environmental literature plays a 
significant role in how the author conceives 
her new home. McQuay references Helen 
Hoover’s A Place in the Woods as an 
inspiration for her and her husband to leave 
their secure jobs for the more uncertain life 
of living on Foley Mountain. Indeed, Singing 
Meadow’s bibliography is an excellent 
reading list covering such topics as living a 
simpler, rural life, nature journaling, and 
sketching, to more philosophical tomes. A 
Pattern Language by influential architect and 
theorist, Christopher Alexander, is drawn 
upon for the more subtle design elements, 
from the fluid and slow process of adjusting 
the original design to accommodate the 
concept of ‘architectural compression,’ 
whereby many aspects are successfully 
combined in one space, to the importance of 
windows whether as a response to the width 
of peripheral vision or to bring the outside in. 
The French philosopher, Gaston Bachelard, 
also makes an appearance, reminding the 
author that a suitable house allows one to 
dream in peace. 
Much of the writing concerns project 
managing the site while simultaneously 
1
Cutler: Singing Meadow by Peri Phillips McQuay
Published by / Publié par Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2017
  
taking notes for this book and discovering 
the botanical details of her newly acquired 
acreage. McQuay’s engagement with the 
land is impassioned, though further 
acknowledgement of its first human 
inhabitants would have shifted the focus 
from the practicalities of building up her 
property to the land’s larger historical 
significance. She does mention Lloyd Jones’ 
Living by the Chase: The Native People of 
Crow and Bobs Lake, who writes that First 
Nations people came to the lakes at the end 
of the last Ice Age:  
 
In the Woodland Period, about 5,000 
BC to 200 AD, there is evidence of 
clay pottery [...] In the time of 
recorded European history, Iroquois 
were followed by dominant Huron. By 
1701, Ojibwa, known here in this area 
as Mississauga, occupied Eastern 
Ontario. (88) 
 
Later, some Algonquin and Nipissing people 
came in search of better hunting grounds. 
And during her time living in the area, 
McQuay had conversations with long-time 
inhabitants who revealed their own 
aboriginal ancestry, which they generally 
kept secret: 
 
How deeply tragic it was that not only 
were our earliest people frequently 
taken advantage of and relocated by 
Europeans, but, worse, that those 
who remained were made to feel 
such shame and fear that to this day 
they preferred to keep that proud 
ancestry hidden. (89) 
 
While clearly not her primary focus, the 
importance of the theft of land and colonial 
violence nonetheless remains. This context 
and background might have broadened the 
narrative beyond the nuts and bolts of 
building a home and developing a 
relationship with the terrain to taking up the 
complicated realities of owning land with 
such complex histories. 
Despite a focus on the particularities 
of building her new home, McQuay defers 
often to the outdoors, stating that the 
habitus of living close to nature is the most 
important part and that her constant joy is 
the land: “For Bob and for me, as it was for 
Thoreau, our real life was outside” (180). The 
process of creating a country home 
awakened childhood memories of being 
connected to nature, nourished by the 
silence as well as the sounds―as referenced 
in the book’s title―whether of animals, the 
seasonal winds, or the almost audible curves 
and vistas of the local geography. At one 
point, McQuay writes about a study that 
claims how plants thrive when they are 
actively loved and cared for: “Surely this 
extends to trees and rocks and animals and 
birds. Our caring notice brought them close 
to us and, in turn, renewed us” (96). Singing 
Meadow is a memoir about relationships, to 
people and to the land with its abundance of 
plant and wildlife, all of which engender a 
different kind of connection with the world. 
 
RANDY LEE CUTLER is a writer, artist and 
educator. In the intersections of gender, art, 
science, and technology, her practice takes 
up themes of materiality and sustenance 
through performance, video, print media as 
well as creative and critical writing. Randy is 
an associate professor at Emily Carr 
University in the Faculty of Art on the 
unceded Coast Salish territories also known 
as Vancouver, Canada. 
 
2
The Goose, Vol. 16, No. 1 [2017], Art. 17
https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/vol16/iss1/17


https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1370&amp;context=thegoose

Singing Meadow: The Adventure of Creating a Country Home by Peri Phillips McQuay

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