And Nature Happened Hardcover – January 9, 2026

Del Ficke was the progeny and student of a barefoot naturalist. His grandfather, Adolph Ficke, had a clear lens of the destruction of nature by people who didn't understand its unfathomably grand design. He had the wisdom and the connectivity with the land to know how resilient it could be, that if we got out of the way, nature would take care of itself. Nature rebounds. It does that all perfectly when we are not a hindrance. The photos in this collection were taken within a one-mile radius of Del's farm home over a number of years as he worked to restore the soil's balance. The subjects of each image are living testimony to the fact that when we become smart enough or simple enough to get out of the way of nature, true expressions of the environment-and oneself-happen. Read more