Look - more books!!!  If you haven't been able to tell - books are important in our family.  The trip down memory lane continues for me.  Sorry - I realize that this is very self-focused, but that's blog posts in general...  As I mentioned before - I do this more for me than anyone else.  It helps me remember.  It helps me figure out what I think and feel about things.

 

The Hardy Boys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love the Hardy Boys.  When I was a little kid I wouldn't read books for fun - I could read quite well, but just didn't find it particularly interesting.  This was a problem as my father was an English teacher who read constantly and my mother was also a huge book lover.  They tried many things to get me into books, but it didn't really work.  Then one of them (can't remember which) brought home a Hardy Boy's book from the store one night (#38 - Mystery at Devil's Paw) and it was all over.  I ended up reading something like 15 Hardy Boys books in the next two months and my parents were very, very happy.  They kept feeding me one after another....

I just picked up 'The House on the Cliff' and read it last month and it's certainly dated, but still a fun read...

 

Wildwood Wisdom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another book on self-reliance in the woods - how to make tools and shelter, how to find/catch food, how to dress wounds, etc.  This isn't a book on how to survive, however.  This is a book on how to live the high-life without anything except a knife.  Guidance on how to build a full kitchen set up out of sticks and twine (twisted from basswood bark, of course).  Illustrations on how to cut cured deer skin to make full winter outfits.  Cooking tips.  Plants to avoid.  Plants to eat.  Fishing.  How to make furnishings out of bark.  How to trap game.  Etc.  Etc.  If you mastered the information in this book you would (in theory at least - I think reality would have been slightly less impressive) never have needed to come back to civilization.  Great fun to read through and think about living off the land.

 

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another book that doesn't need much commentary - this book (and the entire 'trilogy') is wonderful and Douglas Adams seems like he was a pretty awesome human being as well...  Anyway, you can tell that the picture is from a new copy - I finally destroyed and then lost the copy that I had since I was in high school.  Read it too many times and packed it on too many trips...  Had to buy a replacement because I read it at least once a year and I need to have a copy ready and waiting for my girls to be old enough to appreciate it.

 

Gone for the Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure if you can even find this book anymore.  This is another one from my grandfather's bookshelf.  I love this book - the author basically kept a journal of his experiences wandering in the woods and he observed things (and wrote about those observations) in such a wonderful way that I fell in love with this book when I was a kid.  It has had a lasting impact on me - the love of outdoors, the joy of being a part of the natural world and observing the simple happenings around us...  I actually haven't read this in a while - I need to pull this out this weekend and relax for an afternoon.  Love this book.

 

Alex Crittenden