“The ecology of the valley was complex beyond our understanding, and it began to die as we went on manipulating it in ever more frantic ways. As it went dead and empty of the old life it became a place where no one wanted to live. In our right minds we want to seek out places that reek of complexity. Our drive to industrialize soured and undercut the intimacies that drew most people to country life in the first place.” PeopleWayWantMindFirstsCountryWantedDiesUnderstandingLandEmptyComplexesIntimacyComplexityValleysEcologyFranticCountry LifeOld LifeUndercut Author:William Kittredge
“Our old pilgrims believed stories in which the West was a promise, a place where decent people could escape the wreckage of failed lives and start over. Come along, the dream whispers, and you can have another chance. We still listen to promises in the wind. This time, we think, we’ll get it right.” PeopleThinkingStillsStoriesDreamChanceWindPromiseWestDecentStarting OverPilgrimAnother ChanceWreckage Author:William Kittredge
“I wonder what my father saw in his most secret sight of the right life. It's my guess he wanted to live out his life surrounded by friends and children and fertile fields of his own designing. I tihnk he wanted to die believing he had been in one the creation of a good sweet place. Those old pilgrims believed stories in which the West was a promise, a far away place where decent people could escape the wreckage of the old world and start over. Come to me, the dream whispers, and you can have one more chance.” PeopleWorldBelieveChildrenStoriesDreamWantedDiesFatherChanceSecretWonderSawsDesignCreationFieldsSweetPromiseSightWestDecentFar AwayStarting OverPilgrimFertileOld WorldWreckageWanted To DieSurrounded By Friends Author:William Kittredge
