In reading the last handful of essays, I kept thinking about another reason why White's writing is so accessible, so easy for us to relate to even though his experiences are so different from our own: he's not perfect. The book ends in 1941, and so at that time White has been living as a farmer in Maine for over three years. He has come so far from where he was - he's gotten used to the routines of running a farm, found a place for himself in the community, and become successful in many respects. And yet, he is still making mistakes, facing challenges, and finding that he still has much to learn...and he's humbly admitting it all to us, his readers.

In "Coon Hunt," I loved that White, feeling a bit out of place, identified with the puppy, the only other newcomer in the group. "I felt a strong affinity for the puppy because he and I were the new ones to this strange game, and somehow it seemed to me we were sharing the same excitement and mystery of a night in the woods."

And in "Getting Ready for a Cow," he remarks, "The first time I led her out I felt the way I did the first time I ever took a girl to the theater$- embarrassed but elated. In both instances the female walked with a firmer step than mine, seemed rather in charge of the affair..."

Often, I think writers decide to publish a book because they have a very clear message they want to share - they've got everything figured out, a beginning, middle, and end, and they know exactly what they want to communicate to the audience. But that wasn't the case with this book - instead, White was writing and publishing each essay one at a time, as the events happened to him. And so, while he still had plenty of little lessons and philosophies to share along the way, a neatly wrapped-up conclusion was never part of the plan. Instead, the joy is in the process, and in being invited to join him as he celebrates the successes, laments the hardships, and never fails to find humor in the challenges of his new life in Maine.

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