(barn)hearting this book

"Gary Snyder, one of my heroes, famously said, 'Find your place in the world and dig in.' I thought, 'I'm ready, Gary. Just hand me a friggin' shovel.' " --Jenna Woginrich, Barnheart

After reading Jenna Woginrich's, Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life, last year I began to follow her blog: Cold Antler Farm, and I realized that Jenna is the kind of person I envy: a dreamer and a farmer...with a "day job" to boot! So, as you can imagine I was pleased as punch when Jenna's newest book: Barnheart: the Incurable Longing for a Farm of One's Own, a Memoir arrived.

The book--named for a disease with symptoms that vary from: "calling in 'sick' to work in the garden," to "sitting in your office, classroom, or cafe and your mind wanders to dreams of the farming life," to being someone who'd, "rather be stretched out in the bed of a pickup truck, drinking in the stars on a crisp fall night."--is about Jenna's struggles and triumphs on the trail toward getting a Farm of her own. I loved Jenna's voice, her humor and insight, her honesty. I just loved it!  And now I want to find a farm and settle somewhere back in New England...*sigh*

Would I recommend it? Yep. And you definitely don't have to be an aspiring farmer to read it.  :)

Another review here at Farmbrarian.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

eggnog with lighter fluid and other cherished Christmas memories

Image
I started digging to find my favorite Christmas-esque scenes/lines from movies and I was pleased with what I found. In spirit of my 14's lists, here goes: 1. Charles De Mar: "Ah, come on! It's Christmas Eve! I could be home right now, drinking this *monster* eggnog my brother makes with lighter fluid." ~ Better Off Dead I also love the present opening scene on Christmas day, where his mother is dressed like a reindeer, his father gets an ardvark jacket and the kids get freezer dinners. Pan out to the neighbors Christmas when the French foreign exchange student gets a framed picture of Ricky. I LOVE THIS MOVIE! 2. When Zuzu says to George Bailey, "Look, daddy! Teacher says, every time a bell rings, an Angel gets his wings." George quietly agrees, "Attaboy, Clarence," as "Auld Lang Syne" rings out. That scene makes me cry everytime. (I also love that if George had never been around, Mary became a spinster librarian--see pic) ~ It's a W
Read more

sample retirement acceptance letter

Image
The hardest part of being the Director in a small library is that we don't have an HR person, so on top of everything else we do we also get to do the paperwork for the new hires, and retires. Thank God for the internet or these processes would take a lot longer!  One of my board members pointed out that though I'd been informed of staff retirements, I had to officially accept them with a letter...I am finding that a paper trail is an important thing. So, I found a short and simple letter on one university's HR website (sorry forgot which!?) and honed it to work for us. Attached is my sample of a retirement letter.  Is anyone else out there going through this process too?
Read more

"howl the eternal yes"

Image
Just read a CNN article this morning about the Aurora Borealis making an appearance. It reminded me of Northern Exposure and Chris the DJ. So, thought I would share a quote as I reminisce about the Aurora Borealis, a.k.a. The Northern Lights, which I saw my first year at the Farm in Massachusetts, which I actually saw on my 23rd birthday!--the best birthday present I ever got!! "There's a dark side to each and every human soul. We wish we were Obi-Wan Kenobi, and for the most part we are, but there's a little Darth Vader in all of us. Thing is, this ain't no either-or proposition. We're talking about dialectics, the good and the bad merging into us. You can run but you can't hide. My experience? Face the darkness. Stare it down. Own it. As brother Nietzsche said, being human is a complicated gig. So give that ol' dark night of the soul a hug. Howl the eternal yes!" ~ Chris, Northern Exposure, "Aurora Borealis (A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups).” It feel
Read more