The rain returned to this area along with cold weather so
i've been reading for the last few days. This is a summary
of a few books which had useful data.
How To Survive Without a Salary
by: Charles Long
Our library had a revised addition of this old classic,
so i read it and looked for new material. Not much has
changed. It is still my favorite book on conservation.
Some of the newer books on "simple living" and "voluntary
simplicity" have more material, but i like reading about
someone who lives what they write about and describes daily
events.
News is a Verb
by: Pete Hammill
This is a lament about the decline of newspapers and
argues we need quality newspapers which can be trusted
to provide objective information. Most of the material
in the book is about why newspapers are in decline.
I was looking for solutions and did not find any in
this book. The only useful information might be that
finding objective information is difficult today.
Home, A Bioregional Reader
This is a fairly old collection of articles on
bioregionalism. It tries to build a vision of the future
and for me this was valuable. At one point it contrasts
bioregionalism and permaculture and tries to create a
marriage. It also went into other areas like ecofeminism.
In the end i thought all this looking at trees was missing
the forest. Why do we have to collect ourselves under
these labels and feel constrained by them? It seems that
they all point to similar lifestyles but use different
routes and words
I did enjoy this quote:
"The chances of bioregionalism succeeding, like the
chances of survival itself, are beside the point.
If one person, or a few, or a community of people,
live more fulfilling lives from bioregional practice,
then it's successful."
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Jeff Owens ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Zone 7, http://www.teleport.com/~kowens
Underground house, solar energy, reduced consumption, no TV