Book Review: Watership Down by Richard Adams

Watership Down by Richard Adams is a delightful and in parts quite exciting story about the adventures of a group of rabbits who strike out on their own after misgivings about danger in their warren. They encounter lots of dangers and uncertainties as they search for a new home. Some of these come from traditional enemies like predators, men, and weather but also other rabbits which provides lots of drama, mystery, and excitement. At several points in the story they share folklore tales of a rabbit named El-arairah who functions a little like Br’er Rabbit from Uncle Remus stories but with a bit more leadership of all rabbits. They also have their own language with a number of words used throughout the book.

I really enjoyed the character development of Hazel and his steady leadership throughout the book. Bigwig’s mission to Efrafa was like a mini spy story and I liked how he was the featured character for that section along with the battles they engaged in. Fiver was a bit mysterious but seemed settled and accepted in his role as a sort of prophet or seer by the end. General Woundwort was a primary antagonist and it was an interesting examination of a totalitarian and tyrannical system of governing. Kehaar the seagull was a fun addition to the cast with his brash sometimes laid back style and a loyal ally to the rabbits. 

For a story that Adams said was originally made up to entertain his daughters, there was a very male focus with all of the main characters being male and their society oriented in a patriarchal system with the females having minor docile roles that seem only there to serve the interests of the male characters. Adams seemed to try to slightly address this in one paragraph that I could see but didn’t really hold water for me. There’s also a strong militaristic orientation of the rabbits from a hierarchical perspective which could have been drawn from Adams’ experience in World War II.

There’s been question of whether or not this is a children’s book and in my thinking, you’d probably want the reader to be at least late elementary to middle school age due to the intensity of parts of the story though a discerning parent could either skip or guide a younger child through some of the more intense parts.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and the adventures that the bunnies went on. It’s a classic in personified animal stories. They have well developed systems of thinking and acting which are interesting to read and think about how animals perceive the world and what their concerns, hopes, and dreams are. You might even learn a thing or two about rabbits.

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Sheep Thinking

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want." -Psalm 23:1

Have you ever really wrapped your mind around this verse? It's from one of the most familiar passages in the Bible but it's possible to miss the meaning in the familiarity and imagery.

I've not interacted a whole lot with sheep but have been around them briefly. They are skittish, nervous, worried, apt to wander, and greedily lunge for food. If we really think about it, many times we're similar to sheep. We can be worried and concerned about our needs, wants, and desires. Often times, we wander away from the Shepherd either because we think we know best how to meet our needs or because we're stubborn or maybe don't trust Him.

The sheep's lack of vision and knowledge of the shepherd's plans can lead it to dangerous places if it does not stay close to the shepherd and walk in the way he has planned for it. The shepherd will protect and provide for the sheep and may need to occasionally discipline it but ultimately has good intentions for it.

Let us move beyond sheep thinking and fully trust the Shepherd. Let us seek His voice and guiding when we're scared, depend on His provision, and know that He'll lead us in paths of righteousness. When the Lord is our Shepherd, we shall not be in want.

Our Iceberg is Melting

In the book Our Iceberg Is Melting, Harvard professor John Kotter and co-author Holger Rathgeber tell the story of a colony of penguins who are facing change. The story is written in fable format similar to Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson.

An astute penguin named Fred observes that the iceberg the colony lives on is melting and that they will face potential disaster if it breaks apart in the middle of winter. He proceeds to present his findings to Alice, a member of the leadership council. Once the need for action is realized, there is no small amount of squabbling amongst the council as to next steps.

They eventually determine to let the rest of the colony know of the great risks and solicit ideas for solutions. After arriving at a creative solution through interactions with a seagull, they implement a migratory initiative to seek out new icebergs. The change is not without detractors who question the findings and argue for maintaining the status quo without addressing the risks of the melting iceberg. However, through strong leadership of the head penguin and a small action team, the penguins drove efforts to eventually relocate to a safer home.

The story has multiple examples of personalities seen commonly in organizations. There are those who are interested in arguing for the sake of arguing, the cautious, the hard driving but consensus building leaders, the creative but sometimes ignored penguins, the naysayers, those being academic in mindset but who ask tough questions, and those who just want everyone to be happy, among others.

Kotter and Rathgeber use the story to demonstrate an eight step process of successful change which includes:

1. Create a Sense of Urgency
2. Pull Together a Guiding Team
3. Develop the Change Vision and Strategy
4. Communicate for Understanding and Buy In
5. Empower Others to Act
6. Produce Short-term Wins
7. Don't Let Up
8. Make It Stick

The book is fun, has great change management principles, and can be read in no more than an hour or so. While change for change's sake is not necessarily wise, for those in any organization facing challenges, this book provides easy to understand concepts for managing change.

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Heaven Has Blue Carpet

Heaven Has Blue Carpet by Sharon Niedzinski

If you've ever thought you couldn't do something because you were unqualified, Sharon Niedzinski provides a modern day example of chasing a dream despite having no qualifications. While she was in the middle of raising a family in the land of Michigan suburbia, she and her husband purchased a farm when their real estate agent from several years past called them up out of the blue one day with a farm for sale. She had dreamed of living on a farm and raising sheep when this opportunity presented itself.

They sold their home packed up the kids and moved out to the farm. Niedzinski then proceeded to order a flock of white sheep to "decorate" the hillside. Knowing virtually nothing about shepherding, she quickly began reading up in the library, magazines, and asking questions to anyone who would listen to her. Over a number of years, she became an accomplished shepherd but not without some very humorous moments and tough labor involved.

The book is really a metaphor of mankind as sheep as portrayed so frequently in the Bible. The Master shepherd teaches her many lessons through the behavior of her sheep and how many times we act so similarly to sheep. She got an up close understanding of the examples throughout the Bible referencing sheep. The book was well crafted to incorporate timely scripture passages as she learns various lessons during her journey as a shepherd.

Also, incorporated in the book were sheep metaphors. The Good Grain section discusses points to absorb related to God's promises. The Shearing Shed is where we learn through difficult circumstances or God's "shearing" of us. Chew On This provides insights or topics to think about and discuss.

The only slightly annoying thing I found was Niedzinksi referring to her husband as "Honey" throughout the book and never by his actual first name. The reader gets used to it after a while but can be a little grating at first.

This book would be good to read as either an individual or as a part of a Bible study. There are plenty of discussion topics and scriptures to study in gaining perspective on life and the Bible's view of mankind as sheep. The humorous elements as well as the various pieces of wisdom shared based on the author's years as a shepherd will be enjoyable to anyone wanting a better understanding of sheep and how their actions parallel our own.

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Rocky Mountain Hiking

This past week I went on a hiking trip with Kevin, his dad, and their friend Kurt. We had loads of fun experiencing the great outdoors and enjoying God's beautiful creation as well as doing general manly things. In all the trip was 4 days and 3 nights. 21 miles round trip.

The altitude change (from 800 ft in KC to 10,000 ft the first campsite) on the first day was fairly brutal to all of us with a consequence that we had to help one of the guys carrying his pack about half the way. The second day we re-evaluated our plans and did a bit of backtracking.

Our packs weighed in varying amounts from upwards of 50 pounds to the mid 30s. On the trail, you feel every single pound and promise yourself that next time you'll cut off every spare ounce available.

The views all along the trail were splendid with varying amounts of wildlife including squirrels, chipmunks, birds, flowers, streams, mountains, marmots, ducks, and elk. There was no confirmed sighting of large game such as bears or mountain lions but much discussion and action was taken to try to avoid any unpleasant encounters with these hungry denizens of the forest.

On the second day, we got to experience the continental divide at 12,005 feet which is the determining spot for where rivers/streams flow towards the Atlantic or Pacific ocean. In fact, there are a couple streams which start within a few feet of each other yet ultimately wind up in opposite oceans.

Some of the highlight spots in the trip were the various lakes along the way. My very favorite was Odessa Lake which was at our campsite the first evening.
Vicious mosquitoes were ever present throughout the trip and natural lemon scented bug spray was much used and appreciated.

Meals consisted of a variety of things such as Ramen noodles, rice and beans with chicken, bagels with peanut butter for lunch, oatmeal for breakfast, trail mix, and some of the guys brought freeze dried foods which were of differing edibleness.

Sleeping arrangements consisted of tent dwelling which turned out reasonably well. Sleeping pads are essential on the trail and help provide a bit of cushion from the ground. I think the majority of us got increasing amounts of sleep as the trip went on whether from familiarity with surroundings or pure exhaustion.

Our experiences with the park rangers were sundry. Some were helpful and some seemed very intent on keeping the legalistic rules of the road. One such individual whom we'll call Ranger Rex instructed Phil that he couldn't talk to him because he wasn't in the car. Phil got back in the car, we pulled forward 10 feet and Ranger Rex was satisfied that communications could commence. "Safety regulations, you know."

Once above and beyond the day hiker reach, there was not a large quantity of people. Those that we did meet seemed fairly friendly. It was nice to be out in the back country with few people around. One can really feel at peace and relax in the beautiful creation and worshiper the Maker.


Group Picture Before Hitting the Trail

Odessa Lake

Fern Lake


Bierstadt Lake


Looking at Bierstadt Lake

Rapids


Trail


Rocky Trail


Path to Campsite


Camp Site

Cooking

On the Bridge

Kevin on the Trail

Andrew and Kevin on the Continental Divide


Mountain Flowers


Flowers by Mountain Stream

Duck

For more pictures go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/aallen30605/sets/72157600971841920/

Marley & Me

Marley & Me by John Grogan

In Marley & Me Grogan discusses his adventures in life with a labrador retriever named Marley. Marley is a crazy dog, full of all kinds of abundant energy. He has trouble obeying commands and consequently fails obedience school. This does not diminish his passion and joy for life. He approaches everything with a an attitude of "ok, what's next, bring it on, I'm ready for the next excitement."

The story also follows Grogan as he starts a family and begins to raise them first in Florida then in Pennsylvania. Marley is an integral part of their family and is as loyal as a dog, so to speak, no matter the circumstances. It's a fun read with some nice laughs throughout.