This Country

If you're in the mood for a beautiful, very down to earth (in more ways than one), candid, and thought provoking adult graphic memoir, you can't do better than Navied Mahdavian's This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America. Navied and his wife, Emilie, had been living in the San Francisco Bay Area but forced to move further and further out due to rising costs. He really wanted to be a cartoonist. But days spent teaching and driving increasingly long distances left him too exhausted to draw. Having visited rural Idaho the summer before, they ditch city life for six acres in its most remote territory.
Real rural living is a novel experience for the couple. They get the kind of cold weather that makes it hard to start the diesel engines that power both their vehicles. The wood stove, their only source of heat, is tricky to keep up with. When it comes to actually raising their own food eat they have a lot to learn. But they are befriended by kind and friendly neighbors. They fall in love with the natural beauty of the land and its creatures. Without light pollution they can see whole constellations of stars.
In their hearts Navied and Emilie know they're outsiders. He's a Middle Eastern American. They're both liberals and vegetarians. Their neighbors are proud Trump voters, hunters, and conspiracy theory adherents who see nothing wrong in whites using the n word. When a blessed event that they'd just about given up on happens Navied and Emilie must do some real soul searching in deciding where they want their baby to grow up.
On a purrrsonal note, I had an amazing Wednesday. Student Wellness had free journals and lots of beautiful stickers to decorate them with. I decorated both covers of the one and the front of another and they came out so gorgeous. People admired them and I was so proud. And the Commuter Lounge had free Chinese food—all veggies and rice with only thin beef slivers—that was such a wonderful break from Greek yogurt and fruit.
A great shout out goes out to all who had a part in giving me such an amazing day.
Jules Hathaway