Many Storied Mountains

The Mississippi River was of vital importance to the Civil War efforts of both the North and South. Immediately after the attack on Fort Sumter, Confederate soldiers closed the Mississippi from New Orleans northward to Columbus, Kentucky, and Belmont, Missouri, effectively shutting off transportation and commerce to the northwestern states of the Union. President Lincoln responded with a national military strategy to regain control of the river, symbolized by the struggle to capture the town of Vicksburg. It took seven attempts for General U.S. Grant to deploy his soldiers around the difficult terrain, and finally to confront face-to-face the Confederate soldiers entrenched in Vicksburg. The strategies, battlefield dynamics and innovative bridgebuilding techniques used are highlighted in this day-by-day account of Grant's efforts in a pivotal campaign of the Civil War.

I am a survivor even though I have had to suffer hell most of my life. I lost all my family in childhood and of all things, I have even lost three children by death. One son committed suicide, and another son died of alcoholism. My thirteen month old baby girl died of a heart defect. Even so, I have managed to live through the tragedies and traumas I listed below IF you don't drink and are still haunted by alcohol and think you have been through hell or feel like you have been locked into hell, and abandoned by God, this book is for YOU IF you too feel like you have been a failure and a victim soul that climbed that EIGHTH STORY MOUNTAIN OF BLOOD AND TEARS don't give up IF, a mesa-mess like myself can survive, and be positive and happy, believe me, YOU CAN TOO IF as a child you were continually shipped out to only God knows where, and Santa Claus didn't ever come, and you continually lost your identity this book is for YOU IF you have felt unloved, didn't have a mother, father or any other family and have been named PIG in your childhood, and told that you are UGLY, this book is for YOU IF you have been molested and physically abused by your father or mother this book is for YOU IF you are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, or whatever this book is for YOU I have survived all those things mentioned above. And I have finally found joy, peace and love with the help of Fr. Louis (Thomas) Merton) OCSO, Fr. Chrysogonus Waddell OCSO, Fr. Michael Casagram OCSO, Br. Chrysostom Castel OCSO, Fr. Joachim Johnson OCSO, and other monks of Our Lady of Gethsemani Monastery, in Trappist, Kentucky. www.eighthstorymountain.com

The Story of the Hills is a book by Henry Neville Hutchinson. It serves as a guide to the picturesque mountains of Europe such as the Carpathians and Mont Blanc in southern France, also known for their attractiveness amongst tourists.

Five days. Four hikers. Three survivors. From Lori Lansens, author of the national bestsellers Rush Home Road, The Girls and The Wife's Tale comes a gripping tale of adventure, sacrifice and survival in the unforgiving wilderness of a legendary mountain. On his 18th birthday, Wolf Truly takes the tramway to the top of the mountain that looms over Palm Springs, intending to jump to his death. Instead he encounters strangers wandering in the mountain wilderness, three women who will change the course of his life. Through a series of missteps he and the women wind up stranded, in view of the city below, but without a way down. They endure five days in freezing temperatures without food or water or shelter, and somehow find the courage to carry on. Wolf, now a grown man, has never told his son, or anyone, what happened on the mountain during those five days, but he can't put it off any longer. And in telling the story to his only child, Daniel, he at last explores the nature of the ties that bind and the sacrifices people will make for love. The mountain still has a hold on Wolf, composed of equal parts beauty and terror.

The Monkey Mountain story started in a Canadian community health centre. Over the past ten years, it has been successfully introduced to groups attending community health and recreational centres and in retirement and nursing homes, in diabetes and mental health programs. Presentations at community college activation programs and at the Toronto Island Sunshine Center have resulted in Monkey Mountain being taken to many settings. Tai Chi has real benefits for all ages. But especially as we get older, we can lose the ability or confidence to walk and move about easily. That loss can be the result of physical changes or simply because of life factors such as our constant use of chairs. Consider falls alone. A serious fall in later years is often the event that may begin the loss of independence. People who do Tai Chi and who do the Monkey Mountain story really do improve their balance and flexibility. They avoid or recover from near falls. They gain or regain their ability to walk or to enjoy exercise. Being able to move about with confidence encourages socialization and adds to the enjoyment of living. There is also a calming logic to the moves of Tai Chi and the Monkey Mountain story. The concentration required to learn and play the moves clears the mind and relieves stress. Tai Chi is sometimes called a moving meditation.

A celebration of Merton's spiritual autobiography is accompanied by an introduction from the editor and a note from Merton's biographer.