Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.29 (913 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0807033278 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-12-28 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Dirt Work is a contemplative but unsentimental look at the pleasures of labor, the challenges of apprenticeship, and the way a place becomes a home. . She came to find out that work in the woods on a trail crew was more demanding, more rewarding—more real—than she ever imagined. In Dirt Work, Byl probes common assumptions about the division between mental and physical labor, “women’s work” and “men’s work,” white collars and blue collars. Byl first thought of the job as a paycheck, a summer diversion, a welcome break from “the real world” before going on to graduate school. A lively and lyrical account of one woman’s unlikely apprenticeship on a national-park trail crew and what she discovers about nature, gender, and the value of hard work Christine Byl first encountered the national parks the way most of us do: on vacation. As she invests herself deeply in new work, the mountains, rivers, animals, and weather become teachers as well. Her first mentors are the colorful characters with whom she works—the packers, sawyers, and trail
This is certainly an author with a literary chip on her shoulder, but the work is unique and Byl does such a good job of celebrating a colorful cast of characters that the occasional surges of attitude will be overlooked in light of her tale of an education earned in the woods that so deeply complements that of the classroom. What began as a lark becomes a transformative experience stretching into years spent wielding chainsaws and shovels doing “dirt work” in the back country for the National Park Service in Montana and Alaska. From Booklist Recent college graduate Byl (in philosophy, no less) made an unusual choice for summer employment as a “traildog” at Glacier National Park. Along the way she casts baleful glances in many
She owns and operates a small trail design and construction business. . Christine Byl lives on a few acres of tundra north of Denali National Park outside the town of Healy, Alaska, with her husband and an old sled dog. She received her MFA in fiction from the University of Alaska-Anchorage, and her stories and essays have appeared in magazines, journals, and anthologies
Richard Sutton said Walden Made Accessible!. Having grown up in logging towns in the Pacific Northwest, I know dirt work pretty well, so the title grabbed me right away. I was happily surprised that the author's writing voice was reminiscent of two of my favorite writers, Norman MacLean as well as Annie Proulx. The book is organized both as a storyline narrative and also as a journal that invites browsing. Byl's writing gifts are very e. N. B. Kennedy said A lyrical ode to physical labor. Christine Byl worked as a "traildog" for seven summers, maintaining the trails and facilities at Glacier National Park. Hers is an enlightening book about the care and feeding of the national parks -- have you ever given thought to how the path under your feet is maintained? I never had.Ms. Byl is drawn by the majesty of the natural world and exhilarated by the sheer physicality of the work. . "Loved it - like I'm there without having to get my nails dirty" according to Angela Risner The Sassy Orange. I've often wondered how people end up choosing a life that embraces the outdoors. I grew up loving the outdoors then slowly became more of an indoor person as my education and career kept me locked up inside. It never would have entered my mind to look for a job in a state park. Now, twenty years later as I face trying to finally figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life, I wish I