Islands of Experience
Islands of Experience

Author: Dean Nichols

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2004-09-24

Total Pages: 81

ISBN-13: 1592448755

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'Islands of Experience' is an exceptional collection of poetry. It carries a punch that all readers will feel, yet its power is tempered by subtlety and delicacy of language that will make readers linger over each line. The words themselves are simple, yet deep enough to challenge the profound thinker. They render to simple things an awe-inspiring grandeur and reduce the enormous to almost nothing. Many of these poems deal with Alaskan scenes. Here is an excerpt from Snowbound: Softly, silently, stealthily now, the soft snow steals away the freedom of travel the sourdough knew on the trails of the summer day. Warm in his cabin, snug in the snow, it's here that peace is found. It's here that the cares of the world are gone. Who cares if he is snowbound? Looking back on a full and varied life, Dean Nichols casts a discerning eye on the tangibles and intangibles of existence. In this except from The End? he touches upon one of life's crucial questions: Ah, so 'tis happiness you seek, my friend; is that your goal? Take care, lest on its placid sea you strike a shoal that pinions you and holds you fast, so that for you there is no future, only past. Vital, energetic, yet serene, Dean Nichols' poems challenge the reader to look around him and within him. The author comments, I would not ask you to share with me the mainland of my life; for who has half a century to spare? But I invite you to share with me a few of these islands of experience and through them catch a glimpse of an untraveled world.

The Highline Trail
The Highline Trail

Author: Dean Nichols

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2011-05-01

Total Pages: 95

ISBN-13: 1610974387

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"Mountain peaks, especially, are often shrouded in a mantle of cloud; their sides shrouded in a mantle of snow. But to the observant, listening heart, they are also shrouded in a mantle of mystery, a mantle of Spirit. And that Spirit speaks, and flows, and calls. Thirty miles north of our home, in White Salmon, Washington, ""Our"" Mountain, 12,307 foot, Mt. Adams, waits, and calls, and sends out her silent, inviting song.Summer, 1955: It has been written, ""Without dreams, even unfulfilled dreams, we should die.""Our family was very much alive. And so it was really not unexpected that the dream of walking the nearly sixty mile, ""Round the mountain trail,"" should begin taking the form of a vision.According to U.S. Forest Service maps; there was an ""Around the mountain trail."" And, the Forest Service people assumed us, dangerously, what we were to find, ""Oh yes, there is a good trail, all the way around the mountain."" Ah, but the irrepressible optimism of the human spirit. This story chronicles the results of that optimism, optimism held by two pairs of very ordinary parents, and by seven, very ordinary, but vibrantly alive, young children.It wasn't until we were well out on the trail, that that Spirit of the Mountain began to really stir the soul of this young, unpolished author, that here, indeed, was a dramatic, family adventure unfolding. So stay with this simple story, and travel the Highline Trail with us."

The Calling
The Calling

Author: Barry Blanchard

Publisher: Patagonia

Published: 2014-08-18

Total Pages: 510

ISBN-13: 1938340329

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With heart-pounding descriptions of avalanches and treacherous ascents, Barry Blanchard chronicles his transformation from a poor Metis (half-breed) kid from the wrong side of the tracks to one of the most respected alpinists in the world. He describes early climbs attempted with nothing to guide him but written trail descriptions and the cajones of youth. He slowly acquires the skills, equipment and partners necessary to tackle more and more difficult climbs, farther and farther afield: throughout the Canadian Rockies, into Alaska and the French Alps and on to Everest, Peru, and the challenging mountains in Pakistan. From each he learns lessons that only nature and extreme endeavor can teach. This is the story of the culture of climbing in the days of punk rock and rock ‘n’ roll, accompanied by the rhythm of adrenaline and the arrogance of youth. It is a portrait of the power of the mountains to lift us – physically, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually – and the depths of relationships based on total trust in the person at the other end of a rope. Includes climbs with renowned alpinists such as Kevin Doyle, Mark Twight, David Cheesmond and Ward Robinson. 432 pages with photos and a playlist.

America's Songs
America's Songs

Author: Philip Furia

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2006-05-12

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 1135471991

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America's Songs tells the stories behind the most beloved popular songs of the last century. We all have songs that have a special meaning in our lives; hearing them evokes a special time or place. Little wonder that these special songs have become enduring classics. Nothing brings the roarin '20s to life like Tea for Two or I'm just Wild About Harry; the Great Depression is evoked in all of its pain and misery in songs like Brother Can You Spare a Dime?; God Bless America revives the powerful hope that American democracy promised to the world during the dark days of World War II; Young at Heart evokes the postwar optimism of the '50s. And then there are the countless songs of love, new romance, and heartbreak: As Time Goes By, Always, Am I Blue...the list is endless. Along with telling the stories behind these songs, America's Songs suggests, simply and succinctly, what makes a song great. The book illuminates the way each great song melds words and music - sentiment and melody - into a seamless whole. America's Songs also traces the fascinating but mysterious process of collaboration, the give-and-take between two craftsmen, a composer and a lyricist, as they combined their talents to create a song. For anyone interested in the history of the songs that America loves, America's Songs will make for fascinating reading.