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The Real Dirt on Country Living

Goodreads.com photo

  Many people who live in the city or suburbs have had the somewhat romantic notion of giving up the rat race and buying a place in the country... maybe getting some chickens, growing some of your own food. It's tempting, especially after you've sat in rush hour traffic for a while. But what does it really take to make that pipe dream a viable option?

  Former Midwesterner Kristy Athens and her husband thought they'd give rural life a try. They moved from Portland, Oregon, to the Columbia River Gorge, a few years ago. It turned out to be a challenging, but rewarding period in their lives.

And while they're back in the big city now, Athens has turned the experience into a new book, called Get Your Pitchfork On!, which she'll talk about in Wisconsin this weekend. Athens joined Lake Effect's Mitch Teich via Skype this week, and explained what inspired her original move to the country.

Get Your Pitchfork On: The Real Dirt on Country Living is part of the Process Media Self-Reliance Series. She's a native Minnesotan with Wisconsin roots, but now lives in Portland, Oregon. She'll be in Milwaukee for a Saturday afternoon reading at the Sugar Maple Bar, and in Madison on Sunday for the Wisconsin Book Festival.