Why We're Here

Katie Letcher LyIe. The Wild Berry Book: Romance, Recipes and Remedies . Minocqua, Wis.: North Wood Press, Inc., 1994. 160 pages, illustrated by colored photographs and watercolors. $16.95. A lifelong resident of Lexington, Va., with roots reaching back into Virginia history, LyIe concocts a delicious collation of almost two hundred berries, pointing to the differences between visual berries (i.e., strawberries and blackberries) and proper botanical berries. Each berry earns two or three pages and is discussed under Description; Edibility and Recipes; Etymology, History and Folklore; Reputed Medicinal Virtues; and Recent Update. Color photographs on almost every page of the glossy stock are a splendid help in identification which should lead to following the author's footsteps in recognizing, using, and enjoying these gifts to be found almost everywhere. The book is filled with personal experiences, mountain folklore, and recipes, both medicinal and gustatory, that tempt the reader. Her medicinal comments validate the wisdom and practice of mountain people— and the section on Recent Update does just that. AH of this is dispensed with the awareness and wit of a southern mountain woman who knows the people and the natural gifts of the region, and with a lively style also displayed in her young-adult novels and histories. It's an entertaining and useful book for anyone with eyes to observe the treasures around us. —Ruth C. (Cas) Cocklin Why We're Here You fell in love with a mountain, I fell in love with a man. My trip began with a moonlight walk, yours with the land and the plan. You came in search of pinewind sighs and tranquil forest scenes. I took a dive for your hometown charm, and I liked the look of your jeans. And who's to choose the more content Between the two extremes? Me, walking close by my dreamer, or you, closing fast on your dreams? —Carol Crawford 65 ...