We Took To The Woods

We Took To The Woods

Louise Dickinson Rich

Welcome to Agrimony’s Book Nook. My little on the air cottage , pull up a chair, grab a cuppa and let me tell you about a book I just love, We Took To The Woods, by Louise Dickinson Rich.

Despite my love of modern conveniences, being an avid consumer and city girl, deep in my heart I have always had an urge to live in a remote cabin. I have no idea where this comes from.

Sometimes I satisfy this desire with vacations or getaways were we stay someplace like this. We are planning a brief getaway now. Of course the cabins we stay in are usually somewhere in the Ozarks and have amenities such as running water, indoor plumbing and electricity.

But I always end up wondering, what would it be like to live remotely all the time? Reading We Took To The Woods gives me an idea.

This gem of a book, was published in 1942. Don’t let that deter you from picking this up. If you didn’t know that going in, it would take a while to realize it.

Louise Dickinson Rich had the dream of living in a cabin in Maine and writing. Then life got in the way, and this dream got filed away. Later, she met her husband and ended up living her dream. And happily for us, she wrote about it.

This book goes through her life, in the form of chapters that answer the questions she is most often asked. Such as “Why Don’t You Write a Book?” “But How do You Make A Living?” “Don’t You Ever Get Bored?” “Is It Worthwhile?” amongst them.

Louise and her family live in two remote Maine cabins. One for Winter, one for Summer. They have to travel by a succession of boats on a chain of lakes to get to their homes. (side by side on the same property). They have to make an effort to get to the nearest small town, let alone a city. Mail comes ONCE A MONTH!!!. Reading is a good entertainment. Any visitors are a major deal. Life is not easy, but, at the same time, life is simple and rewarding.

Louise does an awesome job of describing her life. One is left with the feeling that they are living it with her. A page turner, this memoir moves along at a novel’s pace.

Reading this book, I realized several things. The longing to cut oneself off from society, isn’t exactly a rare longing. And that living more authentically is a desire we all have, and, can all realize. Maybe we can’t all Take To the Woods, but, we can adopt some ways of living more simply.

We Took To The Woods is still widely available. At Amazon and others you can find by Googling. Google We Took To the Woods and you will find some websites and blogs where other fans of Louise have posted pictures of her homes and talk about what this book means to them.

Thanks for listening and I hope you join us next week when I will have another review. Have a great week!