Sometimes a Great Notion

Did you ever read Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey? He did more things than write One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and take LSD. Sometimes… is about the logging in the Pacific northwest. I read it after moving to the mountains and it had a profound effect on me.

The Happ-n-So property I live on was purchased by Lee Happ in the early 20^th century so he could fish and drink moonshine. He was able to buy it cheaply because it had been clear-cut logged. I’ve seen photographs of the clear cuts, NOT pretty. One line from Mr. Kesey’s novel really stuck in my brain, “A sound like the wind blowing through the branches of a forest no longer there. A phantom wind blowing through the ghosts of the trees.”

I thought about that a lot while looking out at the lush forest that has grown in the last 100 years. Here are two “then and now” photos from approximately the same angle and the concertina fold book with Kesey’s quote.