The perils of reading

I’m requesting and reviewing books from a variety of publishers, then donating them to the library of Raton, NM, or to Springer, NM, or both, if I can get the publishers to send me two copies.

It seems to be a good plan, as it gives me a never-ending source of outstanding material, which I can then turn into reviews, articles, etc., and it also provides good books to the libraries, which are both strapped for cash. Last, it gets them out of our house, as accumulating a big library is not part of our game plan. That’ll work as long as I can read ‘em and review ‘em faster than they accumulate, but it’s easier to ask for books than it is to get ‘em read, and I can always find something new that looks interesting to read, and it only takes a couple of minutes to dash off an email request for a copy, so I’m falling a bit behind.

Not to mention those trips to the library. I picked up Off the Grid, by Nick Rosen; The Backyard Homestead, edited by Carleen Madigan; and The Contrary Farmer, by Gene Logsden in Raton the other day, so I’ll be reading those soon.

My early blogs and reviews have tended to whirl around the political arena. I’m reading the US Constitution, as well as histories of it and the founders, and of the individual amendments.

I think that returning to the language and spirit of the Constitution as written will be very important as we continue to relocalize and wind-down the petro-industrial age. I feel I’m becoming something of a strict constructionist in my dotage, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

Nevertheless, I’ll try to keep that part of the discussion under control, and [mostly] confine my efforts to my intended areas: 21^st Century homesteading and resilient communities. There’s plenty to cover there.

That’ll have to be it for today. I spent the day researching rainwater catchment ideas, and top-bar beekeeping plans, about which more anon.