Enjoy For Free We Took To The Woods Originated By Louise Dickinson Rich Accessible Through Audio Book

book is lovely! Rich's voice is warm, matteroffact, and entertaining, and her word usage is delightful, I love needing to get out a dictionary for good reason and not because it seems like the author is being pushy about their verbiage, True, Rich has only been living out in the woods foryears, so there's something of the Walden in this one, but her stories ring true and I think her relative inexperience gives her a perspective those of us who dream of such things can relate to.
She has a good amount of thoughtfulness mixed in to facttelling, and with little gems such as this:

"So we have our fifteen minute dose of everythingsgoingtohell each evening, and the rest of the day we try to forget about it.
There's not very much tranquility left in the world today, It may be that in striving to preserve a little of it we are making the best contributions within our powers, Or it may be that this is pure rationalizing, and we are guilty of the most abysmal selfishness, "

she manages to cross the decades and remain relevant even as she tells of calling people on a handcrank telephone,

I think I'll probably be buying a copy of this to own and reread when I want a peaceful, comfortable telling of a person who is fully content to be doing what they're doing, and that so happens to be living in the Maine woods a place I wouldn't mind being myself.
First read this when I was, . . mom's copy of the book, Loved it! Will reread! This was Maine, Perhaps this is a generous five but I loved this book, Funny and educational, I felt transported toMaine and also as if Louise was one of my gal pals, Wonderful! A really good read that satisfied the armchair hermit that lurks very close to the surface of my life, Louise Rich's account of her life in backwoods Maine during the's and's was filled with insightful, witty and meaningful observations of what it takes to live this kind of life and how much she really loved it.
I enjoyed allchapters with their cute, questioning titles such as:

Chapter IV: Isn't Housekeeping Difficult Louise says: NO, as she's no housekeeper,

Chapter V: Aren't the Children a Problem to which Louise quips: Aren't children always a problem, no matter where you live

Chapter VIII: Aren't You Ever Frightened sage Louise says: There's nothing to be afraid of in the woods except yourself.


Rich's folksy, honest and sometimes acerbic New Englander writing style is refreshing and engaging and you take away alot of deeper truths that are just as applicable to living inas in.



Gosh, I loved this book by clever, articulate and witty Louise Dickinson Rich, She and her husband were original backtothelanders, although they didn't think of themselves as such, They just liked living in a wild, natural place in this case, the backwoods of Maine and were perfectly content to enjoy each other's company, along with their hired hand and their two children.


Louise writes entertainingly about the other backwoods folks in their community, plus the "sports" who came to visit their name for the city slickers who came in the summer to hunt and fish.
And her descriptions of the natural beauty and wildlife all around them are inspiring, The book was written in, and I felt so sad when I learned her husband had died suddenly just three years later, Louise went on to a long and successful career as a writer, but this was her first book, "Discontent is only the fear of missing something, Content is the knowledge that you aren't missing a thing worthwhile, " p.I guess that depends on how you've lived your life according to YOUR own standards,

This is my first read of, and I can tell you now that it will be one of my top reads of the year.
Louise Dickinson Rich is a very visual writer, and she can sure tell some stories, I love her sense of humor, Not once did I get bored, nor did I begin to count the pages,

On page, she wrote something here that caught my attention and just might explain the attitude of so many unhappy youths, even adults, of today, speaking of her son: "I want him to know what he's fighting forand Freedom and Democracy won't mean a thing to him, unless they are all tied up with memories of things that he has loved.
. . " Today's youth do not have exciting, fond memories of adventure or memories of things that they loved, Their heads are down and distracted by rotten politics and electronics, meanwhile, the beautiful day outside is passing them by, I love how she describes all the distractions around us as "static", That was back in. Today, with cell phones, Internet, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and electronic games, and even today's politics, all vying up most our time on this earth, we have created a level of "static" in our lives that is uncomprehensible, and its making people mentally unstable.
This includes adults as well, I get it! I'm part of this group so distracted by all the "static" around,

Documenting every aspect of our lives, prevents our minds from taking in all the fine beautiful things taking place all around us, and just creates a sense of selfishness.
We snap that picture so we can instantly share to everyone and to say, “Hey, look at me! Look what I am doing!” Our memories are now in the memory card of our cameras.
They weren't captured fully with our minds and our soul because we had a motive for taking that picture, . . to show the world how important we are, No deep memorable moment to sustain us like Louise's memory and full description of that one beautiful morning seeing the sun behind a blackbird that lighted on the water just in front of her:

"We sat down on the shore to assemble our tackle, and a shelldrake came flying in from the east, not seeing us at all.
The sun was behind it, and as it spread its wings and tail to break for a three point landing almost in our laps, the delicate rib of every feather was silhouetted black and single, and the down along the ribs was gold and translucent.
We could see how wonderfully and intricately it was made, Spray flew up like a fountain of jewels as it plowed the

water, It was a bird of fire, coming to rest among diamonds and emeralds, " p.

That one day on B Pond was anything but miraculous, It was an experience that could only be captured in ones own eyes and sealed in their soul, not in a camera, Sure, today, we would have snapped a picture of a black bird that landed in the water in front of us, but missing all the little fine details of that landing because we were busy snapping that picture to show everybody on Facebook.


There are a couple of recipes I am interested in trying, just to see how they really ate out there in the woods, and to get the full experience out of reading her story.
Instructions for her Baked Beans are on page, which require all day, slow cooking in the oven, with water added about everyminutes, And her Raspberry Shortcake Recipe with full instructions can be found on page, Don't ask me how I happened to stumble upon this book published in, Serendipity at work and an ongoing fascination with books set in Maine of late, There it was amongst the Dewey Decimal Code,books geography of and travel in North AmericaNew England, There I found a book to treasure,
Ralph Rich bought a piece of land in rural Maine for a summer camp, after having spent boyhood summers there and feeling a fierce desire to return.
On his first day there, as fate would have it, along comes schoolteacheronvacation Louise Dickinson, her sister, and some friends, hiking through the woods, They stop to chat and he invites them to stay for the rest of the weekto fish, sunbathe, swim, He tells the girls of his dream to spend the rest of his life roughing it in the Maine woods, Louise is enchanted and voila! they are soon married,
In "We Took To The Woods," Louise chronicles eight years of their lives spent living that dream during thes, Talk about roughing it! This was truly rustic country lifeno electricity, no central heating, no indoor plumbing, Childbirth without benefit of midwife or doctor's care, Totally at the mercy of Mother Nature, snowbound for weeks at a time, And don't forgetthis is a time before snow mobiles, internet connection, cell phones!!
Louise tells their story with great, laughoutloud humor and beautiful descriptive writing: "Nobody could be bored in autumn, when the air is like wine, and the hills are hazy tapestries with the red and gold thread of the frosttouched maple and birch embroidering a breathtaking design on the permanent dark fabric of the evergreens.
The lakes then are unbelievably blue, "
Each chapter starts with a question she has been asked by incredulous friends and curious visitors: 'Why don't you write a book' 'But how do you make a living' 'But you don't live here all the year 'round' 'Isn't housekeeping difficult' 'Aren't the children a problem' What do you do with all your spare time' 'Don't you ever get bored' Aren't you ever frightened' Don't you get awfully out of touch' 'Do you get out very often' 'Is it worthwhile'
To that last question, is it worthwhile, Louise writes: "Discontent is only the fear of missing something.
Content is the knowledge that you aren't missing a thing worthwhile, I know that many peopleperhaps most peoplecouldn't feel that, living here, they held within their grasp all the best of life, So for them it wouldn't be the best, For us, it is. And that's the final answer, "
Postscript: People are still homesteading, of course, even in the twentyfirst century, This morning I was looking through the latest Penzeys Spices catalog and read an article about a young couple who live in a little old fishing cabin in a very rural part of Ontario.
No Internet access and no reliable cellphone receptionkilometers from the nearest regular store, They sold their vehicle a few years ago to save money and help the environment, The wife says, "It's a little like living in a time warp, " Maybe I should send them a copy of Rich's book, eherschienen, thematisch und stilistisch ähnlich wie "sitelinkDie Farm in den grünen Bergen"von Alice HerdanZuckmayer.
Es war mir stellenweise ein bisschen zu schmunzelig, aber mindestens die Hälfte verteilt über das ganze Buch ist schön und interessant, .