I never have been much of a reader, other than tech manuals or the like. I have read more books in the short time we've had them, than I have most of the rest of my life. No, that's not many - just two or three - but for me it's a great improvement and a promising trend.
The book I'm reading now is "The Worst Hard Time", by Timothy Egan. It is an eye-opening historical account of the dust bowl days of the 1930's - not so long ago. It tells of the time prior to the dust storms enveloping the plains, the events that led up to (and were responsible for) the earth rising up into the sky, and the lives of several pioneering settlers' families as they struggle to stay alive. Not even the city of New York was immune to the black clouds when the jet stream got its grip on the soil.
The first storm - a 10,000 foot high "duster" that rose up out of the south and rolled across Amarillo around noon on January 21, 1932 - defied explanation and description by the weather bureau of the time. They didn't know what to call it, let alone what it was. It appeared as a black snowstorm, a moving mountain range in a land where no mountains existed. Black drifts were everywhere. The very little rain that fell from the sky during these years fell as mud. Raindrops captured the dirt as they fell. Hail was black or brown. It was as if they lived in a different world. As you read, you will be in a different world too.
A very good read. I highly recommend it. As Walter Cronkite might say, "And that's the way it was."
(Posted By Dale)
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