The Happy Wanderer

Review - A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

I'd heard of Bill Bryson before I started reading A Walk in the Woods.  I knew it was the story of two out of shape men who (what else?) walk through a woods.  It sounded funny to me, and it was about traveling, so I bought it.

Ah, my fellow travel-minded folks, this is like three great reading experiences in one.  First, Bryson is very funny.  Laugh out in the middle of the night because you can't put the book down, kind of funny.  He's terrified of bears, his fellow hikers are annoying, and he has a lilting British style to his speech.  It all makes the woods seem terribly hilarious.

The book is also packed with information, the history of the Appalachian Trail, blights on the trees and the wildlife, man-made disasters, and inspirational stories of botanists.  In little vignettes throughout the book, Bryson leads you through a better understanding of the how and the what and the when of the trail.  No small accomplishment considering the trail is close to 2200 miles spanning the eastern United States.

Finally, A Walk in the Woods is a travel story.  In the first chapters, Bryson explains the equipment he needs to hike, he finds a friend who is willing to do the trek with him, they set out and are immediately met with cold weather, crazy people, and a test of their desire to complete all 2,200 miles of the Appalachian Trail.

Yes, A Walk in the Woods was originally published in 1998, but it feels timeless.  After all, this is a man who is staring at distant mountains and asking himself if he can climb them.  He can, and he'll make you laugh until your stomach feels wiggly along the way.

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Review - Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

You wouldn't think moving an old, dirt encrusted sink could be romantic, but Frances Mayes turns remodeling an Italian villa into a life giving, necessary experience.  Under the Tuscan Sun starts with Mayes' love of Italy.  The fine shoes, churches, and the hot summer afternoons perfect for napping.

This book takes you to Italy and wraps you in the possibility of a gentle exploration of another country.  The people Frances Mayes describes could be your neighbors in a small town, except they speak a different language.  A wound-up business woman is sad that she only has gold jewelry.  Mayes is taken in by a lazy contractor, but she's saved by his three Polish construction workers' honesty.  There are men who drive up to Mayes' property and help pick pine nuts.

Food is ever present in Under the Tuscan Sun.  This is slow food in the best sense.  Mayes makes fruit tarts from the hand-picked bounty on her property.  She shares recipes with her readers as a woman a hundred years ago might have done.  No quick, bare bones measurements.  Mayes relives the memory of her food when she describes how to make Antipasti.

The book is a dream.  But not without a grounding in reality.  Mayes and her husband work long hours every day to make their home livable.  They face scorpions.  They worry about the money it costs to have a second house in a foreign country.  Sometimes, they come back to Italy to find the local workers promised to look after the house and then conveniently forgot to do anything.

I often read Under the Tuscan Sun on winter nights when the snow outside has discouraged me from leaving my house.  I curl up with a blanket and let Frances Mayes transport me to sunny Tuscany where basil and pine perfume the air.  In that moment, I can imagine sitting at a long, outdoor table covered in yellow cloth.  Through the inspirational pages of Mayes' book, I look out over a green expanse and see the warmth of an Italian summer.

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Review - The Long Way Round DVD - Ewan McGregor

A View from the Couch