The Social Porcupine

If my ten years of blogging has taught me anything, it is that if a steadfast blogger woman goes MIA it is because she has stumbled upon the delights of cloud nine. After all these wild illusions, I am no different.  (Yes, I am engaged.) I have missed this blog though, and my lucky readers will be glad to know that my fiancé is also a writer, and we are keeping the other accountable to our earthly passions. The writing shall carry on!! Andy (aka Shagbark Hick from twitter or Randy from his Substack County Line Notes ) and I plan to be married sometime in the spring as soon as the wildflowers are ready to be made into bouquets. There is little to do this winter but to make my wedding dress. And, of course, for us to get to know each other's families and faith as thoroughly as love urges one. Our first picture together, taken by my little brother in my father's junk yard.  If you all remember, I left end of last summer for a long road trip that lasted just about five...

Comparison of the books Jayber Crow   by Wendell Berry and Of Human Bondage  by Somerset Maugham. Contains spoilers.  I read Jane Eyre and Anna Karenina back-to-back with the purpose of comparing them. Ironically, I did not plan on comparing the next two books I read, nor did I expect them to be so uncannily similar. Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry  is the story of a boy becoming a man and how he immortalizes his suffering. It is a story of community lost due to progressive thought and industrialism, and of the lonely man. It is written to stir the senses toward empathy, perhaps somewhat toward apathy, but the light is tinted. Jayber Crow's story is not happy story, although he falsely believes himself to be happy.  Of Human Bondage  by Somerset Maugham follows the life of Philip Carey, of his search to find meaning and focus, and how he repeatedly succumbs to man's nature to the desire of treasuring suffering above goodness.  I shared most o...

I don't feel boredom. I'm recovering from an addiction to anxiety (so I've been drawing faces onto my toes) After a steady workaholic season I decided it was time to get on the road again. This time indefinitely and with less structure than before. I basically won't come home until I've danced in Tennessee, and hopefully l'll return with twenty-five feet of tatted lace.  I will most likely stay on the road longer than that. I need to learn to hold onto something (faith). And I need to prepare myself for some big changes.  My first destination was a family reunion in Oklahoma. But first I organized a hike with a random assortment of Colorado friends (they did not know each other).  We did a lot of car camping and caravanning for the weekend there. We tried to visit a small cult I love, but that didn't work out. I found a beautiful café and saw googly eyes on construction cones. But this lower picture is from some bathroom in Co...

Book Review of Jayber Crow (and sometimes of Hannah Coulter ) Contains spoilers Wendell Berry is best known for his essays and poetry, but I have begun with his novels, great literary works about a small Kentucky town called Port William, and the community who consider themselves Port William's membership.  I read Hannah Coulter first, a sweet and somewhat scandalous novel about a simple young woman who grows up to be a happy wife and mother, and then at last a reflective and welcoming old woman. It was one of those books that felt good to read. The prose was poignant. The story meant many things, like a well-spiced apple pie does, rich in texture. I wanted to savor it forever, and yet was glad to live after having finished reading such a book.  And so, I began  Jayber Crow, considered to be one of Berry's best novels.  At the start I loved it more than Hannah Coulter. We are introduced to Jayber, a barber who loves his clients and their stories, who com...