Coming Home: Instilling a Connection to the Land

摘要

What I like about Wallace Stegner is that he wrote from a place I know well, about people I know well, and about a struggle I know too well. Stegner explored the contradictory and conflicting impulses in his beloved West that are also evident in the world at large. On the one hand were those who Stegner described as "boomers" who saw the frontier as an opportunity to get rich quick and move on. We know their stories well-they were the Conquistadors, the gold miners, the buffalo hunters, land scalpers, and dam-building good ol' boys. They are still among us, trying to make a killing so they can end up on Easy Street. Today in my desert backyard they are planning to build nuclear waste dumps. On the other hand were those who Stegner described as "nesters" or "stickers." They came to stay and struggled to understand the land and its needs. They were less concerned about what they could get away with and more concerned about what the nature of the local land and water would allow. Their vision was to become independent, frugal, settled, small freeholders. That is what is called "Jeffersonian democracy." Their hope was to become native to this land. They are also still among us and they are still trying to call this place "home."