Heart & Hearth

This Is The Story Of The Loss And Reclamation Of A House The Story Of How One Family Scattered By A Tragic Fire Reunites 30 Years Later To Once Again Dwell Together In A Deep And Poetic Way. It Begins As Visitants To The Burned-Out Husk Of The House That Was Once A Home--The Old Whittier House On Deer Hill--Recollect Lives Lived Before The Fire And Are Then Inspired To Build A New Home Re-Establishing Community Around It'S Symbolic Hearth As The Extended Family Begins To Return To The Hill.. This Book Is About Life-Together-In-Earth-And-Spirit: How It Is Found How It Can Be Lost And How It May Be Reclaimed Amidst And Despite All Of The Things That Can And Do Happen To Us In The Course Of Life.  Ultimately It Is A Text Filled With Ruminations On And Explorations Of The Ways In Which We Dwell Together Humanely In The Earth. The Stories Poetry And Essays Herein Set In The Imagined Landscape Of Ross County Pennsylvania Form A Conceptual Spiral Labyrinth Around The Central Concepts Of Heart And Hearth.  As Heart Stands For The Spiritual And Existential Center Of The Person So Hearth Symbolizes The Center Of The Awakened Community. These Two Concepts Form The Core Of The Unique Life-Philosophy Illustrated In These Pages.. Readers Of Montague Whitsel'S Novel Ham-Farir: The Faring Of Matthew Thorin Dier (2008; Volumes I Ii And Iii) Will Recognize Characters Such As Daniel Westforth Whittier Geoffrey C. Whittier And Edward Whittier Portrayed Here In Other Contexts. Characters Quoted In The Fires Of Yule (2001) And Wellsprings Of The Deer (2002) May Also Be Found Here Living Out The Distinctive Life-Philosophy Of Deer Hill.  If You Want To Know More About Ross County Please Visit: Rosscountypa.Webs.Com/