I've decided to start reviewing the books that I read on this blog now as well. After all, most of my drama - or old drama has died, the skin completely rotted away and nothing left but the bones, and really, there isn't much more to dissect with those. Life constantly moves into new territories and as a gal who usually has a book in her hand while she walks, how have I not previously done any reviews here?
I just finished "Siesta Lane" by Amy Manato. I'm not sure how some people are able to do what the author does here. She is able to take time off of what we all consider to be a "normal" and "necessary" existence in order to go move into a remote location on minimal income. People do this though and to me it almost seems to be a milestone of sorts, a bridge to cross in many lives. It's that seeking a cabin in a community without running water, etc and getting to know the cycles of nature. Amy's seems like the duality of a dance between grace and a strong reserve to recognize one's frailty.
We are, for all intensive purposes, an evolved species. We have invented and use a million more tools than others, although other species probably share their tools much more readily than to sell them for profit as we do. And at some point, it seems that many of us have convenienced ourselves into a fuzzy pool of "what is this all about?"
The pre-packaged and processed foods, time spent in front of a television, lack of knowing what plants in the wild are what, slopping down a hamburger with no reverance for the high number of lives that went into that one patty, the video games, text messages, and foils in our hair, highlighting and framing our canvases that hold the amount of Swirl and Tap Bare Essentials make up. It's what we've become with our progression up the ladder without turning around to see that the rungs behind us are breaking one by one.
The author does work, but needs to go into town to do so, as do the other members of their small community. However, she does get to know the rhythms of nature, summer and winter, how to survive them and fully realizes with the poetry of introspection, how we affect this world and how we have allowed other things to become more important.
Her account does not go into day by day details, but weaves in and out of observations, poetry written during bursts of inspirational observation and although it doesn't really play out like a story, it plays out as an easy read with some really thought provoking reminders about Life - not just human life, Life as an entity.
We are, for all intensive purposes, an evolved species. We have invented and use a million more tools than others, although other species probably share their tools much more readily than to sell them for profit as we do. And at some point, it seems that many of us have convenienced ourselves into a fuzzy pool of "what is this all about?"
The pre-packaged and processed foods, time spent in front of a television, lack of knowing what plants in the wild are what, slopping down a hamburger with no reverance for the high number of lives that went into that one patty, the video games, text messages, and foils in our hair, highlighting and framing our canvases that hold the amount of Swirl and Tap Bare Essentials make up. It's what we've become with our progression up the ladder without turning around to see that the rungs behind us are breaking one by one.
The author does work, but needs to go into town to do so, as do the other members of their small community. However, she does get to know the rhythms of nature, summer and winter, how to survive them and fully realizes with the poetry of introspection, how we affect this world and how we have allowed other things to become more important.
Her account does not go into day by day details, but weaves in and out of observations, poetry written during bursts of inspirational observation and although it doesn't really play out like a story, it plays out as an easy read with some really thought provoking reminders about Life - not just human life, Life as an entity.
My first review would have been "The Daily Coyote" by Shreve Stockton, but I brought it back to the library before I could do one. However, I will say here, it was a damn good book. A true story about a brave and eccentric woman who takes in an orphaned 10 day old coyote in Wyoming, and decides to see how it goes in raising him. Shreve has a blog in which for free, once a week you can receive a photo of Charlie the coyote in his various moments of living with his unconventional clan. You can check out her blog at http://www.dailycoyote.net/.
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