TERRACES

     I am more impressed by the terraces on the steep slopes of a deep mountain valley than by the Taj Mahal, Versailles, or Dubai's Burj Khalifa.   I am more impressed with the accomplishments of quiet generations than with stealth bombers or Smartphones.

     In the spring and again in the fall at my cabin not far from the Clark's Fork River there arises a hightide of mice.  It finds the holes hidden behind the woodpile or near the earth and enters the walls of my dwelling.  At night I hear this season's mice pinging on the bare pointed spikes of nails, making a music as random and beautiful as windchimes or aeolian harps; I hear this season's mice washing up against the 2x4's their forebears have gnawed and eroded part-way through.  This year, or next, they will win through and then, 16 inches deeper into my shelter, begin on a new stud.  Year after year, stud after stud - water running over the same course - they cut deeper.  This is the Tao.  This is the victory of generations.

     The human builders of the terraces return generation after generation, adding a high pond garden for a new son-in-law, capturing and holding high runoff against the mountain's flank

     I think of the generations of peace.  Of honest work.  Of a life-solution that enriches all it encompasses.

     I think of the genius of beavers, of coral.  I think of the genius of honeybees.

     The terrace builders are people much like me, living in a small village slightly upstream.  I wonder if their view is sufficiently broad to appreciate their marvelous creation.

     If I had half a dozen lives, like candles in my hand, I would be honored to burn one among them.

HEARTS IN ATLANTIS - by Stephen King

Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King




Finished.

Great story-telling.

I wrote earlier that the story of the lowmen and Ted was the first of three sections.  NOPE, it's the first of 5 loosely connected sections.  I much prefer this first story because it includes a greater amount of dealings with the paranormal, and the last story, 'Returning Home', is the finish of the cycle and refers heavily to the first story.

The sections in the center circle around the Nam experience for those who were involved in the 'green'.  It is a great look at why war survivors must face when they get home with a head full of grisly action. The book leads to a greater understanding of the whole.

The overarching theme of the book is an examination of how experience can change a person; we enter the world innocent and less likely to take direct action to defend ourselves and others, but as we age our character begins to unfold and we move to more closely become ourselves.

The MAGIC of the 60's is represented well, but because the 60's was such a deep psychological experience for all of us (gulp! I was there and I DO remember everything!) one man's story, even a writer's story (full of the product of a life-time of studying people) cannot encompass more than a fraction of the freeing of the mind most of us enjoyed for a while.

In a small way I was a bit disappointed that the angle of the lowmen and the Breakers, the Beams, and the Dark Tower were not explored more fully ... but to get that one has to read the Dark Tower series.



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BLIND YOUR PONIES

...by Stanley Gordon West

I very much enjoyed this book, for a number of reasons.

I read some reviews which said this book was 'sappy' and I take that to mean that it doesn't tend toward the cynical realpolitik many have come to favor.  I take sappy to mean that there is concern here for belief, for hope, for success to grow out of Spirit.  It has to be that, or else 'sappy' is just lazy language.

First, I grew up in NW Montana.  I went to school in Darby and in Alberton.  I taught school in Three Forks and during that time lived in Willow Creek, the very little half-boarded-up town central to the story.  I've walked the main street and walked the country around the town.  Willow Creek is written truthfully.

Second, I loved the characters.  Sometimes it is easy to judge someone because they are rude, threatening, or unfriendly; then you discover their story and suddenly that person looks quite different.  You understand them and can accept them easily into your life.  This book is full of those characters; people with backstory.  Some characters in the book are too young to have much of a history; in this case West has written them so the reader can see the history accruing.  All are characters that will hang on your memory.

Third, I played basketball in highschool.  I love the game.  In Alberton, if you don't go to school there or spend much time in the bars, the athletics at the school are the big social draw.  I know how much it means to the community and to the kids playing.  West writes basketball with some authority.  Granted, ending every game with seconds on the clock and one point up or down gets a bit tiring, but there are some wonderful plays and coaching tricks that make every game a fun read.

And fourth, West is marvelous with language; rarely beating any basketball expression to death.  The reader is led through fresh expressions time after time.

Finally, the book is a delight; full of wisdom, full of fun, rife with love and love interests, rife with the silent ticking of fate behind all things.

I rate it a solid 89%.  Heck, I don't mind tearing up over inspiration.

The story of the ponies is not fiction, although the writer's interpretation is a bit off. We always considered the boys' plunge off the cliff as a willing sacrifice by very brave young men who intended to trade their lives for the lives of their people; it's a Native American thing.

Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West

My rating: 4 of 5 stars