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By David Kline
This is the fourth in an irregular series of reviews of books that are likely to appeal to or particularly relate to the Rappahannock reader.
The collection of essays entitled Great Rtssessions follows the seasons on a small farm in Ohio. I often recommend it to new arrivals to rural life, and, given its organization, one can easily pick it up to begin reading in the season one finds oneself Winter (December) opens with “Winter Visitors,” and the reader immediately immerses himself in the delightful details of Mr. Kline’s closely observed .interactions with his farm and nature. "In the morning when I open the barn doors I’m enveloped by the warmth and aroma of animals and silage— not an unpleasant sensation at all." (p.5). This first chapter goes on to detail the birds he sees, arrivals from the north, the juncos, the tree sparrows, the white-throated and whitebreasted sparrows, the Carolina chickadee, the redpolls, the redand white-winged crossbills, the evening grosbeaks, the pine siskins, the buntings, the Lapland Longs pur, roughlegged hawks, snowy owls, and the red-breasted nuthatch. This list alone should communicate Kline’s knowledge of the natural world and his delight in identifying the frequent hnd the rare winged visitor to his farm. Throughout each season he describes the changes in the land, on the trees, and among the animals, and his actions on his small-scale sustainable farm 'move with the rhythm of the changes in the earth. He does not rush; he pauses to notice. During the summer chapters, he 1 brings the same level of attention he had applied to migrating birds in the winter and cut wood .in the fall to the butterflies, moths, and insects, identifying their species and their beauty: Fleasing to this former English teacher, many chapters include verses from poems, classic (William Cullen Bryant, William Wordsworth) car modern (Wendell Berry), that amplify the author’s remarks. Despite the geographical location of Ohio, ; this Virginia reader wanted to read every other sentence aloud : to another, saying, “Yes, he has
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