Off the Bookshelf

From this day forward, I will blog about each book that I take from my overfilled bookshelves and read. These are books that have been waiting to be read for years, many years. It's time that I start taking a good look at the books I've chosen, read them and give them some thought. It's going to be a great journey through my bookshelves. Then, if I like the book, I will decide whether to keep it or sell it back to a bookstore. Occassionally, I may pick up a book from the library, and if so, I'll add it to this blog. This blog will give me a reason to get through my bookshelf and maybe read a few good books along the way.

So the first book is "The Book of Yaak," By Rick Bass. It was a great way to begin this project. From the first line, I was drawn to his images of the woods of Montana, and the creatures who live there. The book gave a voice to the forest that was about to be logged. Later, Bass states that one valley was saved, but the rest were goners. I would like to visit this Yaak Valley, this place seperated from the world outside, the world that is trying to extinguish it. This book has affirmed the fact that a little relentlessness can be a very important thing to have in this world. Where would we be with out people who are relentlessly fighting for what they believe in, for those are the people with passion. Those are the people who can add something to the world and enrich lives. I am proud to be one of those people. I want to be relentless like Bass, like all the other Basses in the world. I may not fight for a forest, but I can fight for streams. So the Yaak, a great story in a great place and a book that will stay on my shelf. Yaak, save the woods, save the creatures, save what should not be squandered and spent. The problem is that there a whole section of the population, decision makers, who don't care about saving woods, who just want what they can get from it. I met one of these folks recently and have been trying to avoid him since. A few weeks ago, he became unavoidable, picked a fight with me and then acted like it was all my fault. He could not see the value of the stream and until the stream is no longer, he will not rest. He has thumped me off the site, he thinks he has found an easier target, but he will not get around, he will not get what he wants. Greed never wins. They didn't win in the Yaak, even if they got all the trees, they only got a short term win. Their greed will be the end of them. I can't wait to read about the Yaak again.