Mari Grana begins her account of an adventure that grew out of her desire to withdraw to the wild and that ends with a sense of homecoming and community: "I saw over a rise in a meadow a little stone cabin far in the distance. The landscape of the canyon--the rocky pine-covered ridges, the long wide meadow with the escarpment of Rowe Mesa rising in the background--suddenly became the place I had dreamed about." Once she had purchased the abandoned sheepherder's cabin on 240 remote acres of land in northern New Mexico, Grana began the work of making the cabin livable. With the help of local villagers, she plastered the mud walls, installed a cook-stove, and cleaned the rats out of her storehouse. She began to meet her neighbors and to learn the human history of the area. As she became familiar with the beauty, drama, and danger of the natural environment, she also learned about legendary local criminals and ancient land swindles. Writing out of her direct experience of this landscape and culture, Grana vividly describes a world where the village church comes alive on saints' days and the spirit of Begoso Cabin's builder, Natividad Ortiz, lingers still.
Mari Grana, winner of the Willa Cather Award in 2000 and the Southwest Writers Award in 1997, lives in northern New Mexico.
""Begoso Cabin" is a simple yet compelling account . . . greatly enlivened by visits with her neighbors, local history and the celebration of fiestas. . . . "Begoso Cabin" shows, that 'more' is an adventure with a spiritual component. . . . The record she writes is a lovely one, of a particular time and place in New Mexico." "GraAAa paints a verbal picture of the cabin, its natural surroundings, and the people and culture which make the area so unique." "In enviably simple style, GraAAa sketches the history of her part of northern New Mexico. Better, she details her fulfilling daily life with her dog Anu around and about this hardscrabble ranch." "Begoso Cabin" is a simple yet compelling account . . . greatly enlivened by visits with her neighbors, local history and the celebration of fiestas. . . . "Begoso Cabin" shows, that more is an adventure with a spiritual component. . . . The record she writes is a lovely one, of a particular time and place in New Mexico. Grana paints a verbal picture of the cabin, its natural surroundings, and the people and culture which make the area so unique. In enviably simple style, Grana sketches the history of her part of northern New Mexico. Better, she details her fulfilling daily life with her dog Anu around and about this hardscrabble ranch. ""Begoso Cabin is a simple yet compelling account . . . greatly enlivened by visits with her neighbors, local history and the celebration of fiestas. . . . "Begoso Cabin shows, that 'more' is an adventure with a spiritual component. . . . The record she writes is a lovely one, of a particular time and place in New Mexico."
