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Rants from the Hill
Rants from the Hill: On Packrats, Bobcats, Wildfires, Curmudgeons, a Drunken Mary Kay Lady, and Other Encounters with the Wild in the High Desert | Michael P. Branch
10 posts | 3 read | 8 to read
"If Thoreau drank more whiskey and lived in the desert, he'd write like this."--High Country News Welcome to the land of wildfire, hypothermia, desiccation, and rattlers. The stark and inhospitable high-elevation landscape of Nevada's Great Basin Desert may not be an obvious (or easy) place to settle down, but for self-professed desert rat Michael Branch, it's home. Of course, living in such an unforgiving landscape gives one many things to rant about. Fortunately for us, Branch--humorist, environmentalist, and author of Raising Wild--is a prodigious ranter. From bees hiving in the walls of his house to owls trying to eat his daughters' cat--not to mention his eccentric neighbors--adventure, humor, and irreverence abound on Branch's small slice of the world, which he lovingly calls Ranting Hill.
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Tamra
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Pickpick

Humorous essays from Branch‘s slice of heaven in the desert of NV. One of the best was about the secession of a 19th C mining boom town until the neighboring waterhole refused to serve them alcohol on the 4th of July on account of them no longer being citizens. 😂 The malcontents rode home and back after voting to rejoin the union. 🍺🥃 Unbeknownst to them, it wasn‘t official and the mistake wasn‘t discovered until the 50‘s by the Postal Service.

swynn That's a great story 😄 3y
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Tamra
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Branch makes a good point that the grief we experience over the loss of a nonhuman friend/family member is largely “disenfranchised” by society.

He laughs and cries over the Rainbow Bridge poem for the horrendous writing, but also the truth of the feeling.

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Tamra
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😳🎈I rarely buy balloons, but this is a good reason not to at all.

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Tamra
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The natural world from afar appears so idyllic. It‘s easy to forget the brutal reality.

Ruthiella Very true! 3y
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Tamra
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If I have to go back to work, at least I can have some books to keep me company. 😢

TrishB I went back to work today too ☹️ 3y
Cathythoughts ❤️📚 3y
Tamra @TrishB I feel your pain. 😖 3y
78 likes3 comments
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Tamra
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Finally starting this one! The intro and first essay are engaging and right up my alley. There is humor and appreciation for the realities of nature, as well as our dreams of it.

The above quote holds true of American prairies as well.

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Tamra
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#blameitonlitsy 😬 My goal is more library & TBR mountain, but my resolve crumbled when neither title was available via library. 😬 excuses excuses

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Lea
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This book is great. Full of essays on life in the Western Great Basin - which is where I work and next to where I live. It‘s fun to read “naturalist humor” from an area you are familiar with. I can‘t wait to pass this on to my dad, who I know will enjoy the humor and the nature. Found this one randomly, on the library book sale rack.
#readharderchallenge - humor book

Tamra This sounds fun, stacked! 6y
21 likes1 comment
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readinginthedark
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Waiting for the dentist. 😕I wish I could listen to an audiobook while I'm in there, but at least I can read while I wait!

rubyslippersreads Won't the dentist let you listen with headphones? I'd hate visiting the dentist even more than I already do if I couldn't listen to my iPod. 😁 8y
TobeyTheScavengerMonk I was trying to envision a robot arm that would hold a Kindle beside the dentist's head then I read @rubyslippersreads comment which makes so much sense but I've never thought of before. 8y
readinginthedark @rubyslippersreads I actually didn't ask. He talked to me about where to turn my head and what he was doing from time to time, so I just assumed it wouldn't work. Maybe I should try the idea from @TobeyTheScavengerMonk ! 😂 8y
52 likes3 comments
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readinginthedark
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I didn't get much reading done this weekend--my son stayed at a friend's house who lives two hours away, so we drove there and back twice; the CD player is broken in my car, so no audiobooks (yes, this car is better than my last and still has problems); and I promised my husband I would spend some time with him while we were temporarily childless (translation: steak dinner, bowling, TV, and video games). But I did start this #arc !

LeahBergen That sounds like a wonderful weekend. 👍🏼 8y
readinginthedark @LeahBergen It was! Relaxing overall. 8y
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