Monday, July 9, 2012

Book: A Walk in the Woods

This the first Bill Bryson I've read, should have been on to him years ago.
This book describing his assault on the Appalachian Trail is an hilarious read, particularly if you've done some bush-whacking and have sampled the delights of getting on with others on the quest.
Similarly, I liked the backgrounder detail, again having sampled a little of the Great Continent and its people.
My simple farmer observation was that the bush there wasnt very old, the trunks weren't big enough to be of much greater age than 40 or 50 years, and indeed he explains the countryside was once all cleared but its agriculture lost competitiveness when the Mid-West eventually opened up.
He cites the large combine harvesters couldnt handle the small dales of the mountain country.
Its much simpler than that mate.......
Farming's a mugs game in any environment, but hell on earth in a place where winters are 9 months of the year, and summer's only 3 months.

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