Recently I just finished Appalachia North by Matthew Ferrence. In it, he recounts the complex relationship he still has with the land as a Northern Appalachian. Typically when I finish a book I write a Literature Appetizer to get people a taste of what they will find. Since his book is such a personal journey, I would not do it justice by recounting his life.
Many of his experiences reflect my own experience growing up in Western PA. So instead of condensing his journey, I thought I would condense mine.
The Hero’s Journey is a common literary structure where the hero of the story departs home to do a great act, and then returns victorious. My Northern Appalachian Journey is a bit different, but has a similar structure of three parts; Living in Water, Succeeding by Leaving, and The Mountains are Calling.
While on a four hour drive along the forested roads of Pennsylvania, I was listening to an episode of Talk Cardboard. Their board game recommendation for that episode was Forest Shuffle. That night, when I finally had time to look more into the game, was when I realized this game was designed specifically for me.
Before diving into the game, come take a stroll along the paths that converged into this experience.
