I feel like telling you about one of the folks on my list of links- Wendell Berry. If I had no inspirations I'd have very little to write about. Wendell is definitely one of them.
I have all these great memories of visiting him with my family, as a kid and on through college. He lives on a beautiful farm in Port Royal, Kentucky with his wife Tanya, alongside the Kentucky River. He's sort of anti-technology, his house looks like it's from another time. They have the basics- electricity, a phone, audio/radio, and possibly a fax machine, but no TV or computer in sight. They use a wood stove for heat, and have their own water supply through a well.
When we visited we had a routine: chat in the living room, then go into their kitchen where Tanya, a really charming, intelligent woman, made us tea and served a cake we brought in since we keep kosher (it's funny, I don't even think I've mentioned once on this blog that I'm Jewish. But yeah, that's me. A nice Jewish girl - or at least I try). Wendell is a real presence - a very tall man with a kind smile, a great sense of humor and a warm Kentucky accent. He was always very sweet to me as a kid.
After chatting and munching were over we went with Wendell as he made his rounds on the farm. My brother and I rode on the back of his pickup truck to the various points, which was always a thrill. His sheepdogs came along, either joining us on the truck or running alongside. We visited his llamas, and giant draft horses used for plowing, since he only uses manual farming equipment. But my favorite thing was going to the sheep barn during what's called lambing season. It sounds cheesy, but lambs really melt your heart. They are just how you'd imagine them, little wisps of white, all cuteness and innocence. I tried not to think about the fact that some of them end up as lamb chops! By the end of each visit I inevitably decided that I had to live on a farm. And here I am, in lovely New York City…
And aside from being this nice farmer Wendell is also an acclaimed writer who has become a major voice of rural America or for anyone who cares about the natural world. It was sometimes hard to comprehend this when I saw him, because he lives such a modest life, but he is a real literary figure. He's been written up in the
New York Times and gotten all sorts of presitigous awards.
The Peace of Wild Things is my favorite of his poems, quite possibly my all-time favorite poem. My parents have a nice signed copy in a frame, and as I grew up it was always on one wall or another. I never get tired of reading it, and you can probably see how it's influenced me from some of my other posts. If you're looking to expand your horizons, poetic or otherwise, (he also writes novels and essays) give his work a try. There is an incredible amount of wisdom and beauty in his words.
Collected Poems is a great place to start. Please
email me if you get it! We can discuss.
You'd think he would be a good person to show my novel to, as he might have some helpful connections or advice, but I've never shown it to him. I would feel so disappointed in myself if he didn't like it, and I'd rather not know. But if it ever gets published I might work up the guts and send him a copy.
This post is almost over, I promise. I'll end with another (not so very exciting) update on my revisions. Two posts till the deadline, and this has not been a good week. I don't even want to say how many hours, because it's sort of pathetic. From next week and on it's crackdown time. I've always been a procrastinator. In college I'd wait till the last possible moment to study or write a paper. But in the end I always did what I had to do. Hope I can pull that off again. Wish me luck!
