Book Review TO WALK IT IS TO SEE IT Kathy Elkind

Thank you to the author Kathy Elkind, publishers She Writes Press, and as always, NetGalley for an advance digital copy of TO WALK IT IS TO SEE IT. All views are mine.

Three or more things I loved:

1. Chocolate! Elkind writes a lot about chocolate! A quick search reveals 52 instances of the word "chocolate" in this slim volume. Chocolate happens to be one of my favorite foods, which I think of as so much more than a melty sweet treat. As a commodity, I think of its availability as a thermometer for our planet's agrarian health. It's a beautiful cooking component that can bring surprising depth to dishes. I don't eat much sugar these days for health reasons, but I do still love my chocolate. It is one indulgence I would covet even in the spartan conditions Elkind sometimes finds herself. It represents something important to Elkind both in the book and on the road.

2. I really respect the author's openness about communication challenges with her partner. This connects for me, to work through challenge to achieve a shared goal. She is so honest about tge troubling feelings she has for him and hoe her actions contribute to conflict. It's so rewarding to watch them grow as individuals and as a married couple.

3. I admire the author's balanced respect for both natural and traditional medical methodologies, and her honesty about how her attitudes affect her wellness. It makes cosmic sense that I waited to get to Spa to heal from my illnesses.... I hug the copper beauty, my cheek resting on the smooth milky-gray bark, my arms not even wrapping halfway around its diameter. I will the new ruby-pink leaf energy to seep into my body and help heal me. The antibiotics, the spa waters, the tree energy, and the gift of another day of rest are all doing their best to get me well. (Loc. 509)

4. I love how pro-woman this book is, in so many contexts. At the beginning of the book, she talks about aging and purpose for women: No one told me that my pubic hair would turn gray. I have not seen many naked older women. My hands hold the three dimensions of stomach, uterus, and vagina. The fourth dimension is what this area has accomplished over time: birthed two children, digested and nourished me daily, and aroused my sexual pleasure—some would say the essence of what we women have been put on this earth to accomplish. I’ve checked all the boxes. Am I done? Is there more? In the society I’ve grown up in, women over a certain age become invisible and irrelevant. (Loc. 73) She writes about her own endeavors with her husband (and her mother's endeavors with her father) to assert her own authority over her disposition, even in a setting notably egalitarian as the wilderness: I’ve strengthened my voice over the years, thanks to my mom.... Outdoor endeavors continued to strengthen our relationship, but friction arose after our children, Kate and Sam, left the nest and I was traveling through menopause. I did not want to [do] all [the] pursuits Jim loved. We had to find a middle ground. (Loc. 103)

5. Landscapes are stunning 😍 𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯. ... 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. (Loc. 1532)

6. The author hits on what I consider to be some salient points about food: The cheese melts in my mouth. Eating food right at the source is miraculous. We see and hear cows grazing up above us on the slope . We witness milk boiling over the wood fire. I taste fire, copper, sun-soaked grass, and the loving energy of the farmer and his sons. It’s all there in the cheese. We consume the atmosphere of the alpage. (Loc. 2271)

7. I adore Elkind's outlook on life, in general, which I think is kind of perfectly encapsulated in a little story she tells toward the end of the book about three men she sees in her hotel at 8 am. They sit at the wood bar in the dining room of the B&B Elkind stayed in and share a drink, talking jovially. Elkind speculates about whether they are having drinks before reporting for work, or perhaps just getting off for the night. She can't have known which but concludes that her greatest loss is that she does not join them before she starts her walking for the day.

Three or less things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. There's a line at loc.620 that I take issue with: The birds singing in the upper branches are the authors I want to listen to. First, this is a really overused image and idea, and stilted-- nature as author or artist. Is the author waxing eloquent or being serious? Surely it's just a metaphor, but metaphors describe ideas, and this one just might be deriding the written voices of humans. Or maybe books in general. I'm not a fan of writers who suggest the written word or ordinary books are common and some other version of narration is superior. In this case, bird chatter. Do these authors of poor metaphors remember they are writing a book for other people to read? It makes me wonder what kinds of books they read. Are there any they consider worthwhile?

I really enjoyed Elkind travelog and memoir, which tells a story of extraordinary growth and the humbling beauty and challenge of nature and human nature.

Rating: 🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️🚵‍♂️ / 5 mountain journeys

Recommend? Yes!

Finished: August 17 2023

Format: Advance Digital, NetGalley 

Read this if you like:

🧭 Travelogs, travel books

🗣 Memoir

👩‍🦳 Stories about getting older 

👰‍♀️ Stories about marriage 

🎉 Personal growth