Great Possessions: An Amish Farmer's Journal

by David Kline, Wendell Berry, Wendell Berry (Foreword by)

Overview

Reading Great Possessions is like taking a walk around David Kline's Amish farm with him in every season. Through his simple, elegant prose, Kline conveys the joy and splendor of not only observing the natural world on his small farm, but of actually participating in nature's perennial cycle. Kline and his family and brethren go beyond simply coexisting with nature; they become stewards, shepherds, and ultimately advocates for the gracefulness of working the land.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781888683226
Publisher:	Wooster Book Company, The
Publication date:	09/28/2001
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Foreword	xi
	Introduction	xv
	Winter
	Winter Visitors	5
	A Winter Walk	10
	Sugaring Time	14
	Listing Birds	19
	Woodpeckers	25
	Arctic Migrant	30
	Night Hunters	33
	Hunger Moon	38
	Sassafras	43
	Spring
	Wings of Spring: The Canada Goose	49
	The Horned Lark	53
	Wetland Music	57
	Woodland Jewels	62
	A Spring Walk	66
	The Thrushes	71
	Swallows	75
	Of Warblers and Mushrooms	83
	Summer
	Flying Scavengers	93
	Bats	97
	Hayland Birds	101
	In Praise of Fencerows	106
	The Rails	111
	The Upland Sandpiper	115
	Life in the Marsh	118
	The Wings of Summer Nights	123
	The World of Insects	128
	Butterflies	134
	Fall
	The Waterfowl Flyways	143
	A Tall Oak	148
	The Beauty of Wood	152
	Autumn Colors	158
	Woodland Gold	162
	The Return of a Native	167
	Autumn Hawk Flights	173
	October	178
	The Adaptable White-tailed Deer	182
	The Mysteries of Migration	186
	Farewell to the Giants	190
	Beyond the Seasons
	The American Chestnut	199
	Aliens	203
	XZ89	209
	Extinct and Endangered Birds	213
	Planting for Wildlife	220
	Winter Bird Feeding	225
	Giving the Birds a Hand	230

Editorial Reviews

Amish farmer Kline describes his family, his labors and everyday life on his 70-acre southern Ohio farm. ``His reverence for nature and his deep religious faith are palpable, and he argues convincingly for the `small-scale diversified farming' of the Amish, which ultimately gives back to the earth more than it takes,'' said PW. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Combining the foresight of John Muir, the poetry of Henry David Thoreau, and the artistry of John James Audubon, Kline blends the hues of old-world Amish farm life to paint a canvas colored with the great horned owl, black-tailed grackle, and blue heron beneath a winter's wolf moon. Spring brings ploughing and planting amidst budding apple, ash, and sugar maple; the burble of bull toads; the trill of the whippoorwill; and the tickle of toothwort, thistle, and thyme. Summer draws marsh ducks, woodchucks, and young bucks to the sun-drenched cornhusks, while fall closes the circle with the tawny tints of turning leaves and the fine-honed axe of the woodcutter. A fine hearthside read for nature lovers.-- Mikey Scott, Torrey Pines High Sch., Del Mar, Cal.

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