by Rachel Peden,
Drawings by Sidonie
Coryn, Quarry Books,
2009, $19.95, paperback

RFD was the U.S. Post Office acronym for Rural Free Delivery, which, at the turn of the 20th century, finally brought home delivery of mail to farms and rural folk.

An older generation might have made the connection between the old postal routes and the book title, Rural Free. But although the younger, back-to-the-land generation may miss the double entendre, they will lose neither the timeliness nor the timelessness Rachel Peden’s country life sketches.

Originating as regular columns for local papers in Muncie and Indianapolis, these stories recount far more than just the drudgery of farm chores. Peden’s prose is stunning, causing the reader to stop and read again its beauty. Phrases such as “October inherits summer’s hand-me-downs” and “Queen Ann’s lace is now an heirloom” give the reader a chance to relish both the image and the language of this chronological story of farm life, rural neighbors and nature’s beauty.

Although Peden declared that a farm’s year begins in spring or fall, the reader can open the book to any month and enjoy snippets of wisdom, observation and simplicity. Originally published in 1961, Rural Free will again speak to country dwellers, urban farmers, homesteader wannabees, naturalists, environmentalists and even urbanites who just long for a little enriching respite from city bustle.

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