Cactus & Pine

Leap Day marks a big leap forward for us.  We actually found a complete free, digital version of Sharlot Hall's famous book "Cactus & Pine."  Cactus & Pine is easily Susun & John's favorite book.  A worn reprint of the book travels everywhere with us.  John bought his first copy back in 1982 at a Camp Verde used book sale.  He obtained a pristine 1910 first edition copy for ten cents!  It was love at first sight when he opened the book and began reading Sharlot's incredible poetry.  That first edition traveled many times through the bottom of the Grand Canyon and all across the far flung Southwest and beyond.  When Susun first met John, he read her poems from Sharlot Hall and it's one of the many reasons we are still together after 25+ years.  Susun loves Sharlot.  Her favorite poem is probably "A Litany for The Day."  John has three favorite poems, "A Creed, The Colorado River and The Mercy of Na-chis."  Imagine our delight and surprise to find the complete book online!  What a great gift for Leap Day.  It makes up feel like taking a Leap of Joy!

Dear Ol' Google is responsible for getting this book online.  They scanned a copy from the Harvard Library which used library fines to buy a copy in April 1913.  The scan runs to 225 pages although the book itself is only 204 pages.  The pages noted on the Table of Contents do not match the pages of the PDF scanned copy so you will have to do a little looking around to find your favorite poems.  There's bound to be at least one poem in this book that will reach out and grab your heart.

Sharlot was the Most Special Woman of Early Arizona.  Her legacy lives on in so many ways.  You can click here to read the Wiki about her.

OK, here's what we did to preserve this book for you. Click here for my archived copy of the digital version. You can go to a Google webpage and download the "eBook" for free.  Look for the download button near the upper left corner of the page.  Click here to go there.

Now, once you fall in love with Sharlot's poems, you're probably going to want your own actualy hard copy of them to carry on your Road Trips.  The easiest and best way to find an inexpensive used copy is through ABE Books.  Type in the author's name and the book title without the "&" symbol.  Note that can easily obtain a copy for under $10 including shipping.  Click here to go to ABE Books.

ENJOY!

Have a great leap day & Many Cheers, jp