Doug Fine's book is subtitled "An Epic Adventure in Local Living," and there are some epic-worthy moments in the book: Fine fording the flooding Mimbres river in his Subaru, named the LOVEsubee, with two kid goats to get back to his ranch; his subsequent fordings of the river to fetch hay for the goats; being caught out in a epic thunderstorm during a run. But these moments are leavened by humor that does much to undo the "epicness" of his achievement. Consider this description of Fine fording the Mimbres, against all advice, with the two baby goats in the car:
Mulling my choices from the driver's seat, I opted for the "going as fast as I can will get me across faster" method. This meant that I left foot-deep tire tracks in the moments before the LOVEsubee hit the river and went briefly vertical as the goats loudly wondered, "Do we not have any say in who adopts us?"
A scene where a chicken is snatched by a coyote in Fine's horrified sight is, despite the trauma, rendered equally funny. Fine has a talent for making the very hard work of growing one's own food, protecting rosebushes from goats, protecting livestock (chickens, goats) from predators, and installing and maintaining solar panels and related equipment seem easy. Bill McKibben, one of the authors quoted on the book's jacket, concluded that "It'll make you want to move!"
Moving, or at least, changing his lifestyle to become more green, more sustainable, is part of Fine's motive. He was determined not to jettison such trappings of modern life as his Netflix subscription, subwoofers, and ice cream, and, by and large, he appears to have been successful; one casualty, however, was his Subaru, traded in for a diesel Ford F-250 (christened the Ridiculous Oversized American Truck, ROAT for short) so that Fine could drive on recycled restaurant grease rather than gasoline. Fine includes little snippets of information throughout the book such as this one: "Organic farming can produce enough food to sustain even a larger population than the current worldwide one, without increasing the amount of agricultural land needed." Presumably, these tidbits will help the reader be motivated to make some lifestyle changes. In his afterword, Fine offers more advice for living sustainably and detaching from the grid.
Still, after reading Fine's book, I can't agree with Bill McKibben's encomium. I didn't want to move to a remote valley in another state to give over my life to food and livestock raising. Having grown up with various animals large and small (dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, donkeys), I know how much work they can take. And my 8-5 job is neither portable nor does it allow me to spend the primary part of my day on growing my food. Presumably, Fine's occupations provide him more flexibility. On his website, he describes himself as "Author, Journalist, Adventurer, Goat-Herder." "Where's the book for people like me?" I found myself grumbling at the end of the book.
Despite its idealism and realistic struggles with living locally (Fine swears off Wal-Mart in New Mexico but can't resist visiting Whole Foods and Trader Joe's on a trip to Arizona), Farewell My Subaru is not a how-to manual in sustainable living. Fine's life at Funky Butte Ranch may simply be too unrealistic for many people to achieve. However, it might inspire you to make some small changes. Realistically, there are many things people with 8-5 jobs can do to live more green. As Fine points out, we can buy the environmentally friendly toilet paper to send a message to CEO's among other things.
So, even if you can't quit your job and move to a remote place like Fine, or Thoreau for that matter, to change your life, read Fine's book for its humor and its attempts to make real change. And next time you're at the store, buy that Seventh Generation Dish Detergent.
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