Temple Stream: A Rural Odyssey

Temple Stream by Bill Roorbach fills just about every requirement I have for an absolutely enjoyable and delightful read. This work is one man's story, or journey, if you will, of his life near a small stream near Farmington Maine. The author is with his wife, two dogs, eventually his newborn daughter, and a collection of local characters that drift in and out of his story. This is a multilevel work and there are bits and pieces for just about everyone. I will say right now that this book was one of the more enjoyable reads I have had over the past several years and will quite likely give it further reads in the future. The author, a teacher by profession, and his wife buy a small place near a small stream in a small town in Maine. This is the story of parts of his life while living in this rural setting. The primary focus is the stream, "Temple Stream," and his relationship, observations and adventures as he explores the environment around him and the local history. The journey the author takes covers several years and Roorbach has quite skillfully blended these years, the side trips, his encounters with the locals and family matters together to bring us a wonderful feeling of "being there." Bill Roorbach's skill as a nature writer is considerable. While not as detailed as Edwin Way Teale's work, or Allen W. Eskert's, his writing skills are certainly better, or at least equal to. By the way, I very much recommend both these authors, in particular Eskert's "Wild Season." This book, while certainly a full story, is actually a group of essays, linked by the common factor of the stream. I am a word junkie, and the author's use of very obscure phrases, words, and his odd syntax ware a pure delight for me. To understand what the author is doing (in my opinion, and I might well be wrong), can best be accomplished by reading the poem by Theodore Enslin, The Town That Ends the Road, which the author uses to close his work. I would recommend you go to the back of the book, read the poem first, and then read the book. It will give you a better understanding of just what the author is doing with his wonderful word play. In addition, I personally was able to make an instant connection with this writer which is always a good thing. Our lives have been quite alike in many ways, our backgrounds quite similar. I have been absolutely addicted to streams (we call them creeks here) since I was a very young boy and still am. We have a small stream that runs behind our house that I have been exploring for the past 25 years. Like the author, I spend the majority of my wonderings and poking around with my dogs, whose company I much prefer over most humans. The on the spot study of natural history has been a life long habit for me and I verge on being a fanatic as to birding. The author and I share the same attitudes in many ways, have the same outlook on life in general, and where it not for the time and geographical differences, I swear we

Often the journey is more important than the destination, and that's the sort of journey author Bill Roorbach traveled in writing this delightful book. In 1992 Roorbach and his wife bought an old house on the banks of the Temple Stream in rural Maine. Their occupancy of the house was frequently interrupted by career needs, but they always returned to their stream-side home with joy and relief. The Temple Stream rises from a well-hidden artesian spring (sorry, that COULD be seen as a spoiler) on Day Mountain in Avon, my town, and gathers influence on its trip through Temple to join the Sandy River in Farmington, and from there to the Kennebec River, Merrymeeting Bay, and the Gulf of Maine. In the 19th century the stream drove dozens of mills -- sawmills, gristmills, fulling mills. Products of the mills were consumed locally or shipped downstream, bringing wealth back upstream. All that industry washed away when the railroad came, providing a means for raw ingredients to be transported to central mills. Roorbach refers to this change as "the true down-trickle of economics" (p. 14). Fascinated by the natural history of the region, Roorbach formed the intention of traveling the full length of the Temple, by canoe and on foot. He began this project in the summer of 1999 and completed it at the winter solstice in late 2000. Temple Stream: A Rural Odyssey is the story of that quest, interspersed with his personal history, the history of the local settlements, and a Pandora's box of the rich environment around the stream. Roorbach observes the beavers and describes their impact on the stream; consults a field botanist for more detailed understanding of the flora of the region; calls on his lifelong interest in bird-watching; and grows in appreciation of our watery planet through a chance encounter with an elderly hydrologist, found barefoot in a flood pipe with her long skirt rucked up. Local characters and customs are whimsically described, some of them "composites;" I won't meet the Thoreau-quoting giant Earl Pomeroy or the mad house-sitter Mrs. Bollocks on my errands in town but their ways are familiar. All these characters, all the small renewals of nature, even the birth of Roorbach's daughter are presented in a gentle and contemplative style and loosely marked off by solstice and equinox. There are no real denouements here, but if you've ever lost yourself for a while in a stream and wondered where it's going, this book may bring you some of the pleasure it brought me. If you have any interest in memoirs of rural life, I recommend this book to you. Linda Bulger, 2008

The drama of life and death along the stream, the river as the perfect excuse for adventure - "Temple Stream" flooded me with Bill Roorbach's good-hearted sense of well being. This mini retreat from the dry surface pulled me right into the whorls and eddies of some forever-wild routes of Maine. I was as engrossed by the near disasters as well as the near miracles. The neighborly characters -- the disputes and accomadations will seem entertainingly familiar to any long-term Mainer. Once again, Bill Roorbach captures an enthralling non-fiction narrative voice. Beyond that satisfyingly mucky feeling of wading right into the water, right in with the beavers and the gnats and the fish, I enjoyed being with Bill and his lovably eccentric friends and neighbors. I was swept away with the happiness of a baby born, and the sadness of a mentor's loss, and the simple drama of messages in bottles that (like the river) seem to transport time itself. This story from modern day Maine flows with heartfelt appreciation of a very beautiful world. I especially recommend it to herbalists, who will find the sections on rare Maine flora informative and entertaining.

I read this on a mini-vacation on a lake in Maine, and it was like taking two vacations at once. Though I wondered for how many pages a stream could monopolize my attention, I found myself reading late into the night, and waking ready to jump right back between the pages. And no, I wouldn't say it was a stream that trickled under my skin. It was clean, honest writing about love - love of family, of flora and fauna, of a physical life on planet earth - that was so compelling. Well, and I did wonder when the earthwrecking neighbor Earl Pomeroy was going to beat the snot out of Bill, whom I'd really come to love a little bit myself.

What a pleasure this book is--funny and soulful and life-affirming. The prose alone will rock your socks.