LotW

I rarely like to post links that are broken or outdated. Personally, I experience a lot of frustration clicking on link after link, only to find how incomplete a site actually is. This is especially true when you see something that strikes you as particularly fascinating.

[When I eventually see the photos from Rome, you will find that this doesn't hold for the real world. I do love visiting "ruins" - the name being a bit of a misnomer as what is left is a testament to their endurance and age. However, websites generally don't contain that sort of panache. Even sci-films taking a post-apocalyptic view of the world, with abandoned/run Las Vegas's, New York's et. al. have better scenery than "Page Not Found"]

This is why I was tentative to post Mr. Wendell Berry of Kentucky. As you scroll down, you will find quite a few of the links don't work, or lead to dead ends. This is truly sad; however, if you happen upon a hidden gem written by or about Mr. Berry, I am sure you will be struck by his ability to describe, in plain terms, the conflicting issues between man and nature he has witnessed during his life.

Truly a man of the earth, Wendell Berry, more than any other contemporary writer, is gifted and articulate enough to truly talk about issues such as strip-mining, mono cultures, plundering earth's resources, and scores of issues that rarely make the headlines or the hearts of the American people. Furthermore, he is respectable enough not to only highlight issues, but present feasible solutions (there is a wonderful essay in "Another Turn of the Crank" where he describes the business model of a Northern Michigan/Wisconsin Native American Tribe, who are able to log their reservation without diminishing the amount of wood. They've been doing this for 150 years!)

I say "gifted" not because he is imbued with a talent; but rather a perspective. He is a farmer. He subscribes to low energy use (he doesn't even use a tractor!), as well as the local economy (something evidently shunned by "The Economist"). He gained notoriety for his essay "Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer". He has weeded through the abstraction of the information age; and finds reality of the firm, fertile ground of his farm.

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