This Hill, This Valley: A Memoir (American Land Classics) - Hal Borland

\n \nAn Inspiring Year on a New England Hill Farm\n \nHal Borland, whose nature essays graced the Sunday New York Times for almost 4 decades, transported readers to a simpler time and place by his intimate perspective on weather, flowers, birds, and the changing seasons. After being hospitalized with a dangerous bout of appendicitis and reassessing his values, he and his wife decided to retreat to a farm in the Berkshire Hills of northwest Connecticut. From that place-for 36 years-he composed the essays which provided a calming rejuvenation for his legions of avid followers. \n \nBorland describes his process: We came here, not to a cabin in the wilderness but to a farmhouse beside a river. I have spent the months and years since, living with this small fraction of the universe and trying to know its meaning-to own it, that is, in terms of observation and understanding.\n \nThis Hill, This Valley ushers us eloquently through a year on the farm in an area known as Weatogue: Spring: (The apple trees are in bloom, and a magnificent sight); summer: (One of the most difficult of all sounds to put down on paper is the song of a bird.); autumn: (October is the fallen leaf, but it is also the wider horizon more clearly seen.); winter: (The sparrows make Winter a pleasanter time for any countryman.)\n \nDeeply satisfying, these classic vignettes may be enjoyed for just a few minutes or all afternoon. \n \nBe sure to read Hall Borland's other bestselling classics, also available from Echo Point Books: When the Legends Die: The Timeless Coming-of-Age Story about a Native American Boy Caught Between Two Worlds (hardcover 1635618630, paperback 1635618649); The Dog Who Came to Stay: A Memoir (hardcover 1635618835, paperback 1635618843); Sundial of the Seasons (hardcover 1635619084, paperback 1635619076); Hal Borland's Book of Days (hardcover 163561706X, paperback 1635617596); Hal Borland's Twelve Moons of the Year (hardcover 1635619017, paperback 1635619009); and High, Wide and Lonesome: Growing Up on the Colorado Frontier (paperback 1635618827). This Hill, This Valley is also available from Echo Point Books in hardcover (1635619114).\n