Calvin Rutstrum (1895–1982)

This is a book about a pair of snowbirds from Minnasota who got a place in the remote southwest to spend each late winter. They fell inlove with the landscape and the local culture and learned both the culture and the natural world around them. In this bok they describe what natural and cultural qualities they have found and treasure. They also discuss some problems the southwest was facing in 1972. Among these problems were antique water rights being abused by speculators, racial prejudice, and a state government not in touch with the reality of the area and its values.

The chapters that describe the land and its fauna, weather, and flora are pleasant. Parts that go into water law and abuse sound all too familiar to this century. Parts that describe the overcommercialism of Indian objects by introducing large quantities of fake products for tourists and art collectors also sound familiar. Another interesting part of the book is the belief by the author that retirement means death to most retirees and he expounds on that by talking to many retirees from different walks of life.

All in all, worth reading, but I wonder if any of the problems mentioned in the book have been addressed between 1972 and the present. I suspect not. The book gives a glimpse what the early snowbird phenomenon was like from the inside.… (mehr)