News at Eleven: There was no simple retreat for [Gary] Snyder.

The land was relatively cheap because nobody had much use for it; the scars of industrial mining came close. The community to be supported included 'two grown sons, two stepdaughters, three cars, two trucks, four buildings, one pond, two well pumps, close to a hundred chickens, 17 fruit trees, two cats, about ninety cords of firewood and three chainsaws'. The bees were destroyed by black bears. The kitchen garden went dry in winter and was raided by deer. The chickens were taken by northern goshawks, red-tailed hawks, racoons, feral dogs, bobcats. The forest was full of noises.

from London Review of Books: The Man in the Clearing

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