Spring Snow: The Seasons of New England from the Old Farmer's Almanac

by Castle Freeman Jr., Abigail Rorer (Illustrator)

Four and a half million people read The Old Farmer's Almanac each year, and for fourteen years, the essays of Castle Freeman, Jr., have been a prominent feature. Freeman delights in Vermont through every season of the year, observing and participating in what happens inside the countryman's mind and outside it. He has something to say about all aspects of modern country life, from rototillers and chain saws to rabbits and raccoons, from day lilies to maple sugar, from snow on the roof to mice in the woodpile. He finds much in nature on which to draw a "Woodpeckers make other birds look like triflers. Their lives have a complexity and purpose that reminds us of ourselves." Writing in the parallel traditions of Gilbert White and Benjamin Franklin, Freeman evokes a way of life sufficiently challenging to be exciting, sufficiently quiet to be philosophical, sufficiently varied to be fun. This book is for pleasure, to roll over in the mind in city and country alike, a book to keep by

Genres: Essays

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 27, 1995

About the author

Castle Freeman Jr. is an American novelist and writer who lives in Vermont.

Reviews

[Eliot DeLorme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful, short entries on rural life in New England taken from the farmer’s almanac. Castle Freeman’s writing makes you slow down and see the wonder and humor in the four seasons. The back cover says it best, “the four seasons lovingly seized with all five senses.”

[Sarah Morenon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not my usual book, but lyrical writing, not schmaltzy, sort of musings with humor and insight. Will give copy to my daughter who is a granola crunchy. Not a crunchy granola. A granola crunchy.