Author Mary B. Kurtz shares the rich experiences of her Colorado agricultural life in this collection of twenty-nine lyric essays, contributing immeasurably to the tradition of Western American literature. As if looking through the aperture of a microscope with its light-gathering qualities, Kurtz sees a clear and magnified vision of her life on a ranch and writes about its daily rhythms, the murmurings of a natural world, and the vagaries and mysteries of aging and mortality. Rooted in place, it is a tribute to the beauty and power of a Western landscape to hold and inspire one’s daily living.

Mary’s essays, “Bugsy” and “Daddy’s Girl,” are anthologized in Ankle High and Knee Deep.

Ankle High and Knee Deep: Women Reflect on Western Rural Living, an anthology, is written by ranch women, cowgirls, and farmers about their day to day lives on the land. This collection of inspirational and contemporary voices offers accounts of women struggling to keep a lifestyle intact, recollections of childhoods spent in open spaces, and tales of overcoming obstacles–inspirational reading for city dwellers and country folk, alike.