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Rating: 
Summary: Reflections on living on the "dry" side of the mountains
Review: The author, an English professor at Central Washington University, takes the reader through some of terrain surrounding the Central Washington Basin, east of the Cascade mountains, with reflections on what it means to live in tune with the surrounding enviornment. His observations are usually keen, with excellent attention to detail. He obviously knows the land on which he traverses, and takes the reader through the varied landscape of that area. Whether he is describing a hike, cross-country skiing, or a search for a "city walk" the author makes excellent use of sensory images, evoking smells, sights, and sounds. One of the more interesting essays concern the author's move from his native New England to the Far West. In "My Old Arcadia," the writer describes his growing up days, and how the land he once knew, is no more. But poingantly, he admits that while the "Kittitas is as good a place as a belated immigrant could hope for," it is not a place where he can "claim [any] memories." Sometimes the essays end abruptly, leaving the reader with an uneasy feeling, as if the thought was somehow not completed, like chatting with a person on a street corner and a bus suddenly arriving, interreputing the conversation. Still, I'd recommend this book. It's a fast read, and one you're sure to enjoy.
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