From the Bookshelf:

I just finished reading A Country Year: Living the
Questions by Sue Hubbell. This is a sweet and gentle
book of the agrarian ilk.

Sue lives and keeps bees in the Missouri Ozarks. This
was my first fascination with the book since I live in
the Ozark foothills. She is a mountain girl and I am
a hillbilly.

The books is a diary of sorts comprising one full year
of living with her bees and in the Ozarks. She writes
of the bees and the work they entail. She tells of
the birds and other creatures that share her mountain
home, and she introduces us to her neighboring mountain
folk.

She speaks with understanding and humor of those who
want to make a move to a simpler life. She made the
move some years earlier, but recognizes that country
living is not necessarily simpler. There is time for
observing nature and reflection, however there is much
more time taken up with the mechanics of survival.

I always find it rather sad when a person who is enthralled
with God's creation doesn't recognize the One who gave it
to us as a gift. It leaves the reader with an empty feeling
in the pit of the tummy.

But, the above reflection notwithstanding, Sue is a gifted
writer and her book is a delightful stop on a busy day.