Reading Again

Now that the candidacy meeting is over, I'm back to reading about canning, gardening, preserving food, etc. Now I am reading Forty Acres and No Mule by Janice Holt Giles. My family had a lot in common wiht the Kentucky Appalachians she describes in the book. We are devout Christians, and we used to have close-knit communities based on family ties and long-standing land ownership going back to Revolutionary and War of 1812 grants. Even the food described in the book is familiar (including a lack of asparagus- I do not remember eating it until adulthood). The manners of treating others are similar, though the verbal expressions are different. It is a fascinating look at how an outsider adjusts to a small, family-based community.