I just finished reading a historical fiction work titled Rock Creek. The author, Richard Bennett grew up in Mountain Home, he was a childhood friend of one of the book club members and that relationship inspired the choice of his first book for our club. Once a year the women invite their spouses or significant others to join the monthly book review and one of us picks the book and reviews it after a pot luck dinner and wine. This year we had the author as the reviewer- good idea!
The story is set in the later 1800’s and follows a young Scottish couple who determine to escape their servitude and make their way to the United States. When you think about the obstacles they faced and overcame, like so many other immigrants, it is truly inspiring. Getting to this country was difficult, once here they were confronted with no clear path to the independence they believed their freedom offered. The couple makes their way to Idaho with their baby girl to meet a relative who has offered to get them started as homesteaders. The author weaves in history and topography as the characters build a future on Rock Creek. I think you would enjoy the read as much as we did. The sequel is coming out soon! We have come a long was as a country, the world may still see us as the shining beacon of freedom and opportunity. Immigrants built this country and this story reinforced for me the critical importance of diversity in our rich history.
I sat down this week to write the message without a clear idea of what I would write hence TBD. I think every writer fears or expects the day when you have nothing to share or cannot put the first word on paper. I enjoyed listening to Dick Bennett as he described his process for writing the book and the many people and sources it required to bring the characters, cultures, history and geography to life. He talked about his most honest critic and collaborator -his wife. Dick recounted some tense and defensive moments when he received feedback that required a review or rewrite. My Friday message team includes my spouse who I look to as my critic, my daughters who edit and make the graphics and social media stuff happen. If I had feelings—they may have been occasionally hurt when something I wrote was not clear, in context, or just out of bounds. Thanks to my team for the support and honesty. I wish the current leadership of our country had a team to keep them on track and the focus on the important issues at hand.
All of this made me think of this John Donne passage from his 1624 book titled “Devotions upon Emergent Occasions”. This meditation gave us “no man is an island” and “for whom the bell tolls”. In modern terms, “no man is an island, entire to itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main” simply put no one is truly self-sufficient, all of us rely on the comfort and company of others to survive. Donne’s 400 year old poem against isolationism rings true today. The loss of any person is each of our loss, “the bell tolls for us.”
Our world needs leadership, historically that “beacon” has been the United States. We cannot lead from the rear, I am optimistic we will go Global for the good of the planet and our Republic.
Enjoy the week end. M