Finding a Clear Path

A few weeks back Colleen over at Loose Leaf Notes quoted some of Jim Minick's "Finding a Clear Path" published by the West Virginia University Press. Her recommendation sent me online and a week later my copy of the book arrived. I have to say I am thoroughly impressed. Jim Minick has a way of writing that makes you think he is talking to you alone. With every chapter you want to continue the conversation and add your own experiences. This is another of those books that you don't sit down and read in a couple of settings, you have to enjoy this one a chapter at a time. So far I have only made it a little over a third of the way through, but each and every page is enjoyable by itself.

As a bit of serendipity, the chapter I came to tonight spoke of Great Horned Owls. Ya gotta wonder about these kinds of coincidences...

In this same vein, I came across a quote from "the rural life" by Verlyn Klinkenborg on someone's blog (pardon my lack of brain cells). It caused me to chase down the excerpt on Amazon which really wetted my appetite, which caused me to buy the book when I found it on Daedus Books for a pittance and since I was already placing an order I added it in. This author is a wordsmith. He can put together a sentence, then tie it to others in a paragraph, add additional paragraphs to complete an essay that leaves me breathless with envy. Just speaking about binders twine in the way he does, you can almost feel the coarseness as it cuts into your palm as you throw that bale of hay from the loft. Again, this is another of those books you take your time reading. I am up to May and looking forward to the summer.

When you add in Fred First's "Slow Road Home", it begins to look like my reading habits have really changed. Blame it on the blogs, I guess.