WIDE MEADOWS

A collection of childhood memories extols the sense of security and stability the author knew on an Ozark homestead farm and recalls the small flourishes and suitable rituals that made the necessary tasks lighter. The sensitivity to the seasons and the traditional family celebrations; the goodness and warmth that the grandparents and parents sustained with the three girls; the award of the silver spoon for an especially nice deed; the development of moral precepts without restrictive demands; friendliness and concern for neighbors -- all the incidents have a healthy, sunbonnet-y atmosphere in which homely homilies are part of the established way of family life that had its gay simplicity. Pleasantly wholesome.