Rants from the Hill: On Packrats, Bobcats, Wildfires, Curmudgeons, a Drunken Mary Kay Lady, and Other Encounters with the Wild in the High Desert | 
pickMichael read the Drunken Mary Kay Lady story out loud to a room of (mostly) female librarians a few years back and it was my first exposure to his humor and sarcasm. I'm now three books in and keep recounting his stories to anyone who will listen to be- though I don't nearly do them justice. Can we have a do-over meeting, Michael? Share a shot and work on our bucket-list making together?
pickHumorous essays from Branch‘s slice of heaven in the desert of NV. One of the best was about the secession of a 19th C mining boom town until the neighboring waterhole refused to serve them alcohol on the 4th of July on account of them no longer being citizens. 😂 The malcontents rode home and back after voting to rejoin the union. 🍺🥃 Unbeknownst to them, it wasn‘t official and the mistake wasn‘t discovered until the 50‘s by the Postal Service.
Branch makes a good point that the grief we experience over the loss of a nonhuman friend/family member is largely “disenfranchised” by society.
He laughs and cries over the Rainbow Bridge poem for the horrendous writing, but also the truth of the feeling.
😳🎈I rarely buy balloons, but this is a good reason not to at all.
The natural world from afar appears so idyllic. It‘s easy to forget the brutal reality.
If I have to go back to work, at least I can have some books to keep me company. 😢
Finally starting this one! The intro and first essay are engaging and right up my alley. There is humor and appreciation for the realities of nature, as well as our dreams of it.
The above quote holds true of American prairies as well.
#blameitonlitsy 😬 My goal is more library & TBR mountain, but my resolve crumbled when neither title was available via library. 😬 excuses excuses
pickThis book is great. Full of essays on life in the Western Great Basin - which is where I work and next to where I live. It‘s fun to read “naturalist humor” from an area you are familiar with. I can‘t wait to pass this on to my dad, who I know will enjoy the humor and the nature. Found this one randomly, on the library book sale rack.
#readharderchallenge - humor book
Waiting for the dentist. 😕I wish I could listen to an audiobook while I'm in there, but at least I can read while I wait!
I didn't get much reading done this weekend--my son stayed at a friend's house who lives two hours away, so we drove there and back twice; the CD player is broken in my car, so no audiobooks (yes, this car is better than my last and still has problems); and I promised my husband I would spend some time with him while we were temporarily childless (translation: steak dinner, bowling, TV, and video games). But I did start this #arc !
